by Louis Georges

Created on: May 02, 2009

Hell is neither a real place nor an artificial construct designed to frighten evil-doers into behaving properly. Hell is truly a metaphor, but it is a metaphor for the absence of God, not a metaphor for punishment.

The "fire and brimstone" depictions of Hell are common, having been around for centuries, and they paint a picture torment and suffering, ostensibly as punishment for not living a good life. That understanding of Hell misses the point. Hell doesn't exist in order to punish people. Hell is where people find themselves when they have turned their backs on God. When they forsake Him and His boundless love, they are left with nothing but the memory of what they had. Therein lies the torment, all the more tortuous because of the knowledge that it will last forever.

Everything we have, God gave to us. We live because He gave us life. We laugh because He gave us humor. We love because He gave the capacity for love. We learn because He gave us intelligence. How horrible would life be if, having had all these things, we lost them? How painful is it to lose a loved one? How painful is it to lose one's sight or one's hearing? How much more painful would it be to lose everything? To turn one's back on God, to have the audacity to tell Him that He is not needed, is to volunteer to continue without any of the gifts He has so lovingly provided. When His gifts are taken away, all that is left is regret and loss.

God does not send people to Hell.
People damn themselves. They do so by rejecting Him and His love. God does not want any of His children to suffer.
In His mercy, He provides ample opportunity for one turn to Him. Even someone who rejects God and lives in the most evil and egocentric way imaginable can still be welcomed back by God on the strength of a contrite confession and earnest request for forgiveness. This is the message demonstrated in the story of the prodigal son. When someone who has wandered astray chooses to return to God and His way, that individual's
return is met with rejoicing. If such a person continues to reject the Creator, that individual voluntarily forfeits the right to be with Him in the afterlife. It is not a punishment inflicted by God; it is a choice made by the individual. The individual who chooses to reject God's love is doomed to spend eternity without it.

To live outside of God's light forever as a result of one's own choice - that is Hell.

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