It’s no
surprise that many people hate hell. Nobody loves punishment!
Hell is
synonymous with evil, because hell is the abode of those who reject the one
true and living God. Those who reject God are, by nature and in essence, evil.
They are evil since they have not repented of their sins, so their sins are unforgiven.
Heaven and
hell are consequences for man’s life on earth.
If there’s no hell, people can do what they want and how they want. Those
who do not want consequences for their actions hate hell.
It doesn’t
matter whether we like or hate hell. If it is there, it is there.
Why the
hell? Instead of asking “why should there be a hell?” we could ask “what would
happen if there is no hell?”
So if there
is no hell, there would be…
No Punishment & No Justice
Hell is the
perfect punishment for evil. Since evil exists, punishment should prevail. If
there is no hell, there will be no perfect punishment for evil.
Human
justice system is not omniscient. So some offenders will always escape the
clutches of the human justice system. Moreover, corruption is rampant
everywhere, and that includes the human justice system. Corruption entails that
innocent could be punished and the guilty go scot-free.
Whatever
the case may be, lack of punishment is effectively the lack of justice. How can
there be justice when evil people go unpunished and innocent people suffer?
Therefore,
if there is no hell, evil would remain unpunished. Hence there would be no
justice.
Sovereignty of Evil
Evil people
prosper in this time and age (cf. Psalm 73: 3). If evil people prosper, the
weak and innocent would suffer deeply.
The movie
“Purge” depicts a synopsis of a world where evil rules the good for a brief
period of time. One day in a year is earmarked to “purge.” There would be no
consequence for crimes (evil) that day. People could go berserk and unleash
evil for 12 hours on that day where all crime is legal. Purge was a vent to
unleash one’s concealed evil into the world and a means to an artificial
population control.
During “purge,”
evil is sovereign. This would be the perpetual state of the world if there is
no hell.
When evil
rules, evil would be the superior moral. If there is no consequence for evil
deeds i.e. if there is no hell, good cannot be the superior moral (good need
not be stronger than evil). If evil rules over good, evil would be the sole
standard for life. Hence evil will pulverize the good.
Amoral World
Evil rules
when there is no punishment. If evil is sovereign, this world would be amoral (evil
would be the only superlative moral). Wouldn’t morality cease when the
right-wrong moral distinction is erased?
For the
sake of this discussion let us categorize evils as lesser and greater. The
lesser evils could be gossips, jealousy, bad temper leading to minor offenses,
rivalry, factions, party-spirit, and envy.
The greater
evils could be the horrendous evils. Christian philosopher and priest, Marilyn
McCord Adams lists horrendous evils, “…the
rape of a woman and axing off of her arms, psychophysical torture…betrayal of
one’s deepest loyalties, cannibalizing one’s own offspring, child abuse…child
pornography, parental incest, slow death by starvation, participation in the
Nazi death camps, the explosion of nuclear bombs over populated areas, having
to choose which of one’s children shall live and which will be executed by
terrorists…I regard these as paradigmatic, because I believe most people would
find in the doing or suffering of them prima-facie reason to doubt the positive
meaning of their lives. …” 1
Predicated
on the fact that life is more valuable than materials, it might be of less
significance to the victim and the society if a thief who robbed a pen was not
convicted of his crime. But it is of a great significance if a murderer of a child
remains unpunished for his crime.
The thief
who habitually steals pens could progressively deteriorate into robbing
millions. During this progressive deterioration, the thief could also become a
killer. Thus the possibilities for the lesser evil to transform into greater
evil are endless.
What
prevents a man from committing petty crimes when evil rules? Man, on an
average, may not commit horrendous evils always. But man is totally susceptible
to committing the lesser evils such as, sexual immorality, gossips, quarrelling,
jealousy, rivalry, factions, party-spirit, and envy, which in turn could lead
to horrendous evils.
The lesser
evils would also increase in intensity and magnitude. When lesser evils
increase, the society would be exceedingly volatile. Living under these
conditions would be unbearable. In other words, we would be living in an amoral
world under constant suffering.
If evil
rules, violence would be rampant and peace would cease, for the world we live
in would be amoral.
God’s Non-Existence
A world
without hell could only be postulated under the condition that God does not
exist i.e. an atheistic paradigm. It is very reasonable for evil to prosper and
justice and peace to be non-existent in the atheistic worldview.
The atheistic
paradigm would not (or cannot) offer any reasonable or logical answers to the
problem of evil. Such is the moral bankruptcy of atheism.
Ask an
atheist to explain the presence of evil. More often than not, they would quote Richard
Dawkins in his work “River Out of Eden” and say “there is no such thing as
evil.”
Mind you,
it is Dawkins and his followers who brand the God of the Bible as evil. On one
hand they say that there is no evil, but on the other hand they contradict
their statement that there is no evil to assert that the God of the Bible is
evil.
God forbid,
if a calamity befalls these atheists, who claim that there is no evil, would
they enjoy their calamity or suffer through it in pain and tears? Evidently, no
sane human would enjoy evil but only suffer through it in pain and tears, for
pain is inherent in evil.
So an
atheist who denies God’s existence will deny evil and will deny hell. He has no
other option. So if there is no hell, there is no god.
Conclusion
If there is
no hell, then:
1. Evil
would be unpunished.
2. Evil
would be sovereign (rule over good).
3. World
would be amoral.
4. There
should be no God (for hell is only plausible if God exists).
But this is
the existential reality. Sovereignty is singular. There cannot be two sovereign
beings i.e. two maximally great beings. When a being is sovereign, all other beings
are subjugated.
We are not
living in a world where evil is sovereign. We are living in a world where God
is sovereign. Although Satan is the temporary ruler of this world, the
sovereign God is in total control.
We know
that God is in total control since our world is not amoral. There are
punishments for evils. Evil does not rule over good.
Good still
rules over evil. This is precisely why a good number of people enjoy a rather
peaceful existence. The presence of God entails peace.
God has temporarily
allowed evil to reign. But HE has assured us that not a hair from our head will
perish.
God is
good. God does not tolerate evil.
If we repent
of our sins, believe and remain in the Lord and Savior Christ, we will be
saved. Those who do not believe in Christ remain evil, since their sins remain
unforgiven because of their conscious rejection of Christ.
Such an
evil person sins against an infinite God. Sins against an infinite God mandate
an infinite punishment in the form of hell. Hell then is the eternal abode of
all those who reject Christ.
In case you
have not received Christ yet, please pray and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as
your God and savior. I pray that you repent of your sins and ask Christ to
forgive you. The merciful and loving Lord will forgive you and you will be with
God forever and ever. I pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.
Endnotes:
1Marilyn McCord Adams, “Horrendous Evils and the
Goodness of God,” The Problem of Evil (ed. Marilyn McCord Adams and Robert
Merrihew Adams, New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 211-12.
