Why Is Eternity in Hell Fair?
Introduction
The short answer is that God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell (2 Peter 3:9). He loves the whole world, and would want for every one of us to love him in return, and experience his presence, with all of the joy and goodness that comes from that. But he won’t force anyone into a relationship with him. He gives us the freedom to choose. So actually, God does not send people to hell. They make a free choice to reject him. The people in hell will be there because they will never want to be with God.[1]
People in hell will be eternally unrepentant
It’s interesting that nowhere in the Bible do we see that the occupants of hell will ever be repentant. This isn’t taught explicitly, but it’s compatible with what we know about hell’s occupants and the wicked.
In Luke chapter 16, we have a detailed description of what hell might be like, from Jesus himself. I’ll let you read the story of the rich man and Lazarus for yourself (Luke 16:19-31 NLT). But notice that although the rich man is in pain and torment, there’s absolutely no sign of any repentance over the way he treated Lazarus. There is not even the slightest hint of any remorse.
In the book of Revelation, during the Tribulation, we see God pour out his judgement on the wicked who have rejected him and are still alive on earth. They are not even in hell (yet), nevertheless, they refuse to repent.
“But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols… And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20-21).
Some time later, still during the Tribulation:
“The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
“The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” (Revelation 16: 8-11 NIV).
If the hearts of the wicked are so hardened that they refuse to repent during the Tribulation, there is little reason to believe they will repent after they have died and find themselves in hell. After all, the Tribulation looks like hell on earth.
What about the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” that we hear about? Could that signify repentance? Not exactly. Yes, weeping is associated with sorrow. But consistent with other appearances in the Bible, the gnashing of teeth is almost always associated with rage or anger. It is not, as generally supposed, with anguish.[2] (For example, see Psalm 112:10 NLT).
People in hell will not want to be with God
Now, if the occupants of hell will be forever unrepentant, then it follows that they’ll never want to be in heaven where God is. They’ll want to be in a different place, separated from him.
Actually, we see many people alive in our day (or close to our day) express their hostility and rejection of God. Even people who understand the Bible and its teachings on hell. Mark Twain once wrote:
“I am plenty safe enough in his hands; I am not in any danger from that kind of a Deity. The one that I want to keep out of the reach of is the caricature of him which one finds in the Bible. We (that one and I) could never respect each other, never get along together. I have met his superior a hundred times—in fact I amount to that myself.”[3]
Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong writes that the God revealed in the Bible is “a God I cannot respect, much less worship; a deity whose needs and prejudices are at least as large as my own.”[4]
Philosopher John Stuart Mill said,
“Whatever power such a being may have over me, there is one thing which he shall not do: he shall not compel me to worship him. I will call no being good, who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow creatures; and if such a being can sentence me to hell for not so calling him, to hell I will go.”[5]
Finally, consider the lyrics of the 1979 song Highway to Hell by the Australian rock band AC/DC:
... No stop signs Speed limit Nobody's gonna slow me down Like a wheel Gonna spin it Nobody's gonna mess me around Hey Satan Payin' my dues Playin' in a rockin' band Hey momma Look at me I'm on the way to the promised land I'm on the highway to hell Highway to hell I'm on the highway to hell Highway to hell Don't stop me…
Now, some might argue that these people didn’t know what they were saying. Once they meet God for who he really is, they’ll realize they made a terrible mistake and want to be with him.
This implies that their rejection of God is due to a lack of information. But in the Bible, we find that a lack of information is not the problem (Romans 1:20). Rather, we are all lost due to our condition of sin (Isaiah 59:2). A life of sin and rejection of God progressively darkens the mind and hardens the heart towards God (Romans 1:21-22).
It may seem odd that anyone could reach such an incredible hardness of heart that they would never, ever (even in hell) want to be with God. Dallas Willard explains:
“No one chooses in the abstract to go to hell or even to be the kind of person who belongs there. But their orientation toward self leads them to become the kind of person for whom away-from-God is the only place for which they are suited. It is a place they would, in the end, choose for themselves, rather than come to humble themselves before God and accept who he is… The fundamental fact about them will not be that they are there, but that they have become the kind of people so locked in their own self-worship and denial of God that they cannot want God.”[6]
In summary, if those in hell will be eternally unrepentant and never want to be with God, then eternal separation from God is fair. It’s actually what they want.
John Feinberg, scholar and expert on the problem of evil writes, “As with libertarian free will and the free will defense, in my system people wind up in hell because they have decided that they don’t want a relationship with God.”[7]
C.S. Lewis wrote, “All that are in hell choose it… The door to hell is locked on the inside.”[8]
Conclusion
God loves us. It must grieve him to know that many of us would never want anything to do with him. Nevertheless, he gives us the freedom to choose. God created a place called hell for those who wish to reject him and spend eternity apart from him.
But that doesn’t have to be your choice or mine. In fact, it doesn’t have to be this way for any of us. Perhaps you’re reading this right now, and you don’t know very much about Christianity or God. But you know that if God is good and loving, you wouldn’t want to be apart from him. You don’t have to be. None of us has to be.
If any one of us chooses with all our heart to turn toward God, repent of our sin, and trust in Jesus for salvation, then we’re immediately adopted into the family of God. Our relationship with God is restored to what it always should have been. And we will one day dwell in heaven forever with God, who always loved us and always will.
[1]Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, 77 FAQs About God and the Bible, Your Toughest Questions Answered (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2012), 85-86.
[2]Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993) [Orig. pub. 1883]), 550. Cited in Clay Jones, Why Does God Allow Evil? Compelling Answers To Life’s Toughest Questions (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2017), 99.
[3]Mark Twain’s letter to his wife, Olivia Clemens, 7/17/1889. Cited in Clay Jones, Why Does God Allow Evil, 100.
[4]John Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991), 24. Cited in Clay Jones, Why Does God Allow Evil, 101.
[5]John Stuart Mill, An Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy: The Principal Philosophical Questions Discussed in His Writings, 2d ed. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1865), 103. Cited in Clay Jones, Why Does God Allow Evil, 101.
[6]Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2002), 57. Cited in Clay Jones, Why Does God Allow Evil, 244.
[7]John S. Feinberg, The Many Faces of Evil: Theological Systems and the Problem of Evil (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 432.
[8]C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 69.
This is good Greg….I’m so glad God loves me!!! And I’m glad I love Him ! He takes care of me…He keeps me safe and well, with a strong mind. I have many memories of His care for me.
Elaine Enos