Is hell the absence of God? No – it can’t be and I will try and explain why.
According to the Christian faith God created everything from nothing at all. He just spoke and it all came into being ex nihilo. It is interesting to note that theists often use this as a reason why they do not believe in the big bang. anyway, there are two possibilities here – God literally created everything from nothing or God created everything from the only “thing” that existed at the time – himself.
If the first is true, then God (being perfect) deliberately created a place where he did not exist, nor was interested in.
If the second is true, then God IS everywhere and he IS everything – including in hell.
Since the second option seems unpalatable to many theists since it destroys the idea of hell being a place separated from god, so we will not consider a viable option.
This would mean an all knowing and all loving being deliberatly created a place where he did not exist, from nothing at all. Hey, he’s God so he can do whatever he likes – right?
What kind of all loving being creates a place where he is not, then punishes those who do not follow him by throwing them into that area of his creation? This seems incompatible with the nature of God, hence he either cannot be all loving, or all knowing. This destroys the concept of God that many theists hold.
Before anyone suggests that we choose hell because of our free will to sin against God, then I ask
“Why can’t your God predict the results of giving us free will”?
Did he deliberately and perfectly decide to impose a kind of self-amnesia to see what would happen? Would he be able to predict the results of doing this before he even started?
It seems dealing with absolutes is not a very good idea. I would recommend everyone should steer clear of them.
#1 by karen on February 3, 2009 - 4:15 am
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Actually, I think that God created a hell precisely because He IS loving. Here's why: if God has given human beings free choice to know Him and love Him, but they don't want to, He would only be loving if He allowed them NOT to spend eternity with Him.
#2 by Eman on February 7, 2009 - 11:02 am
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How absurd, no one would kill or torture their child if they did not make the right decision let alone forever.. That is not free will-Obey me or suffer.
On a dark night when a thief put's a gun to your head "Your money or your life" is that free will? You are given a choice, both bad, in the context of his authority.
Shame on your belief justifying rationalization.
#3 by Jpk on May 18, 2009 - 6:27 pm
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Has God put a gun to your head? If you don't want to be with God now, in this life, do you want God to force you to be with Him in the next, forever?
#4 by askegg on May 18, 2009 - 9:32 pm
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Has god put a gun to your head? Effectively yes. If we do not worship in and follow his rules he will pull the trigger and send you to hell for eternity.
In any case an all knowing god would have foreseen that people would reject him, yet he went ahead anyway. What kind of divine plan requires the etenal suffering of billions of people, and how is this loving?
#5 by Cometa on February 4, 2010 - 4:07 pm
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If God were to prove his own existence, as you postulate will occur when we die, then I would believe in God and I would want to be with him.
Does God prefer people to accept shaky evidence rather than to be unsure until it is proven beyond reasonable doubt? If God were to show himself unambiguously then I would believe in him, and surely well-founded belief is better than rather superficial belief sometimes against the evidence available.
#6 by madhatter0719 on February 5, 2009 - 2:57 am
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That's ignoring the fact that he has absolutely no problem whatsoever with sending his children to an eternity of unfathomable suffering in fiery lakes of agony just because they were born in a society that worships a different deity. There are countless places on this earth where it's not a "choice" on which deity you worship. Hell, there are even places on this earth where people haven't heard of your specific one. I really don't see how that's all loving.
#7 by Valen Thyme on February 3, 2010 - 5:18 pm
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I, personally (and from a completely unrelated, third-party, outsider POV), believe that if God is real then he created a world without him directly in it because he saw something that wouldn't exist while he did. Like if God, an all loving character, really existed in the world, everyone would love him, and then there would be no love between the humans themselves . . .
But that's just my opinion.
#8 by Jpk on May 19, 2009 - 5:31 am
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What I don't understand is how the threat as you see it is real if you don't believe in God anyway? Are you scared of boogymen also? If I were you, and I truly didn't believe in God, it would be a non-issue, not a threat.
From another perspective, if Hell is real (which I assume an athiest doesn't believe), then aren't those who reject God actually sending themselves there? It feels somehow like someone who rails against gravity. The rule is….gravity pulls you down. If you jump off a skyscraper, are you mad at gravity for killing you, or at yourself for jumping.
I actually also have a problem with the eternal suffering of billions of people. It would seem more just for people simply annihilated, rather than to be forced to spend eternity with a God that they despise. What do you think?
#9 by askegg on May 19, 2009 - 8:36 am
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That's just it – there is no threat to you from Allah, since you don't believe he is real. Why would I accept threats from Yahweh as credible?
If I reject gravity it makes no difference to the fact that matter attracts matter. This differs from the threat of hell in that I have experience of gravity and can observe its effects. This is what separates faith from reality.
The bible really makes no mention of an eternity of suffering. It simply says those who die will be discarded never to be seen again, but those who believe will live forever. It is not until much later that the idea of eternal punishment enters the scene.