Question
How can a loving God send people to hell?
Hell is not God losing His temper. It is God taking human freedom and holiness seriously—and the gospel is the open door the other way.
The slogan pictures a sadist. The Christian picture is a holy God who will not force a person into a communion they have spent a life refusing, and who has gone to extraordinary lengths so that none need perish. Jesus speaks of hell more than anyone in the Bible, and weeps over Jerusalem.
See it
Slide decks that belong with this page.
Talking points
- Love without justice is sentiment. Justice without love is cruelty. The cross holds both.
- No one is in hell for an exam they never got to take. See also ‘those who never heard.’
Say this
The question assumes God is eager to damn. The story we actually have is God in Christ walking toward the fire so that people can walk out. Hell is real because good is real. So is the invitation.
“The Lord is… not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
“How often would I have gathered your children together… and you were not willing.”