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TITLE:
http://www.equip.org/
ARTICLE
TITLE:
Why Should I Believe in Hell?
DATE: April 22, 2009
AUTHOR: Hank Hanegraaff
AUTHOR
INFORMATION: Hendrik "Hank" Hanegraaff (born 1950) also known
as the Bible Answer Man is an American author, radio talk-show host and
advocate of evangelical Christianity. He is an outspoken figure within the Christian
countercult movement where he has established a reputation for his criticisms
of non-Christian religions, new religious movements or cults and heresies
within conservative Christianity. He is also an apologist on doctrinal and
cultural issues.
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Gaddafi will take his place among some of the
worst 'killlers' in history. This cartoon was republished by Radio
Netherlands Worldwide. (PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/1696)
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This
article first appeared in the Ask Hank column of the Christian Research Journal,
volume 27, number 1 (2004). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal
go to: http://www.equip.org
“Multitudes
who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others
to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2 niv).
The
horrors of hell are such that they cause us instinctively to recoil in
disbelief and doubt; yet, there are compelling reasons that should cause us to
erase such doubt from our minds. First, Christ, the Creator of the cosmos,
clearly communicated hell’s irrevocable reality. In fact, He spent more time
talking about hell than He did about heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.
5–7), He explicitly warned His followers more than a half-dozen times about the
dangers that lead to hell. In the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24–25), He repeatedly
told His followers of the judgment to come. In His famous story of the Rich Man
and Lazarus (Luke 16), He graphically portrayed the finality of eternal torment
in hell.
Furthermore,
the concept of choice demands that we believe in hell. Without hell, there is
no choice. Without choice, heaven would not be heaven; heaven would be hell.
The righteous would inherit a counterfeit heaven, and the unrighteous would be
incarcerated in heaven against their wills, which would be a torture worse than
hell. Imagine spending a lifetime voluntarily distanced from God only to find
yourself involuntarily dragged into His loving presence for all eternity. The
alternative to hell would be worse than hell itself in that humans made in the
image of God would be stripped of freedom and forced to worship God against
their will.
Finally,
common sense regarding justice dictates that there must be a hell. Without
hell, the wrongs of Hitler’s Holocaust would never be righted. Justice would be
impugned if, after slaughtering six million Jews, Hitler merely died in the
arms of his mistress with no eternal consequences. The ancients knew better
than to think such a thing. David knew that it might seem for a time as though
the wicked prosper despite their evil deeds, but in the end justice will be
served. We may wish to think that no one will go to hell, but common sense
regarding justice precludes that possibility.
Is Annihilationism Biblical?
If
anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead
or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been
poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with
burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the
smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night
for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the
mark of his name. (Rev. 14:9–11 niv)
Just
as universalism (i.e., everyone will be saved) is the rage in liberal Christian
circles, so, too, annihilationism (i.e., God will annihilate unbelievers) is
gaining momentum in conservative Christian circles. The question, of course, is
whether annihilationism is biblical.
First,
common sense tells us that a God of love and justice does not arbitrarily
annihilate a portion of the crowning jewels of His creation. He graciously
provides everyone the freedom to choose between redemption and rebellion. It
would be a horrific evil to think that God would create people with freedom of
choice and then annihilate them because of their choices.
Furthermore,
common sense also leads us to the conclusion that nonexistence is not better
than existence since nonexistence is nothing at all. It is also crucial to
recognize that not all existence in hell will be equal. We may safely conclude
that Hitler’s torment in hell will greatly exceed the torment experienced by a
garden-variety pagan. God is perfectly just, and each person who spurns His
grace will suffer exactly what he or she deserves (see Luke 12:47–48; cf. Prov.
24:12; Matt. 16:27; Col. 3:25; Rev. 20:11–15).
Finally,
humans are fashioned in the very image of God (Gen. 1:27); therefore, to
eliminate them would do violence to His nature. The alternative to annihilation
is quarantine. That is precisely what hell is.
For
further study, see Robert A. Peterson, Hell
on Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian
and Reformed Press, 1995).
Hank
answers more of your challenging questions on his nationally syndicated radio
broadcast, the Bible Answer
Man, heard daily at 6:05 p.m. Eastern Time (see www.equip.org for
stations and Internet streaming) and in The
Bible Answer Book (Nashville: J. Countryman, 2004).
PLEASE GO TO THESE
FOLLOWING LINKS TO HEAR DR. RC SPROUL PREACHING ON HELL (APRIL 21 TO 24, 2014):
1. The Place of
God’s Disfavor
2. The
Great Separation
3. Degrees of Punishment
4. The Point of
No Return
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