6 Alternatives to the ‘Loving God, Fiery Hell’ Paradox
Can’t reconcile love with torture? You’re not alone.
“If God loves people so much, why does he send them to burn in hell forever?”
When I was a Christian, I couldn’t read that sentence without inwardly rolling my eyes.
“A naive question from someone who hasn’t bothered to understand the most basic apologetics! As though such a simple point of confusion doesn’t have a long history of debate and refinement within Christianity.”
Before the skeptic had finished their sentence, I’d already identified several ways they were missing the point. I thought it was a cheap “gotcha!” sort of question.
My mind rushed to the defense of hell, but when I look back on it now I realize my subconscious wasn’t satisfied with my own explanations.
I knew the hypothetical mechanisms for how an all-powerful, all-loving God could have created this world exactly as he saw fit, and then had his hands tied by our free will and sinful nature so that he had to send non-believers to a place of eternal separation. I tried to focus on those explanations and dismiss the “misguided question” in order to protect my beliefs.
