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[Humorous]

Why is there eternal punishment for finite sin? If so, why are people who could not help their unbelief sent to eternal hell, if God is fair?

To add some context, I became a Christian when I was young, and still am to this day, but I'd like some insight into my biggest gripe about Christianity.

Why would God willingly condemn a soul to eternal torture when he could simply destroy it? The common counterargument to this point is that God is perfectly pure and any amount of sin in the eyes of a perfect being requires a perfect/infinite amount of compensation/punishment. However, would it not be more just simply to destroy the soul? God can do anything; it is definitely in his power.

Additionally, that brings me to my next gripe: if God is perfectly fair, what about all those people who did not have the same chance as a Christian? For example, divorced babies do not believe in Christ, thus all scripture would indicate that they will burn in the lake of fire for all eternity. Objectively speaking that baby had zero chance of ever receiving the gospel; was the baby just created by God to send into the flames?

Now obviously a common point people raise is that the baby had no sin so they will be saved; however the situation can be applied into different contexts as well. What about people living in China in 300 A.D who had zero missionaries preach the gospel? They clearly committed sins in their lifetime and did not believe in the gospel; did God create millions upon millions of human beings with zero chance of saving, destined to a life of pain? This also applies to the modern day as well; there are millions of people out there that, regardless of Christianities effort to evangelise, do not know much or anything about the gospel. They may have heard of the name of Jesus and that Christianity is a big religion but largely there will be many people out there who barely knows anything about the gospel. To say that these people had equal opportunity as a child growing up in a Christian family is absurd; thus is it fair if these people are sent to hell when they did not get much of a choice, when there are indeed people out there who will willingly reject the bible after consideration?

I wouldn't have a problem with all this saving business if there wasn't an eternal punishment for it. Thats sort of why I am of the opinion that there is no eternal punishment but rather eternal death which would allow God to be perfectly just.

But that's just my opinion and I'm not here to preach my agenda, I'm here to listen to your arguments.

[jimwalton]

First we have to deal with the idea of finite sin. As a Christian I'm sure you're aware of Mark 3.29 that talks about "eternal sin." The eternal sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit: the conscious, deliberate and continual rejection of Jesus, defiance of truth, and a perversion of spirit. This is not a single event, but a sustained position. Notice that all other sins (and blasphemies) can be forgiven (Mk. 3.28). But the unrepented rejection of Jesus is called "an eternal sin": everlasting in its guilt, not in itself as a sin.

But what about everyone else? The Bible teaches a principal of reasonable accountability. According to Romans 5.13, people are not held accountable for what they had no possibility of knowing or knowing about. In Deuteronomy 1.39, the children who were too young to make a realistic decision are not judged, but are shown mercy; their level of accountability was directly related to their moral awareness. Isa. 7.15-16 teaches the same thing: God deals differently with people based on their knowledge. So we're getting a sense of the fairness of God, and that he takes many things into consideration as he makes his perfect decisions: opportunities, intellect, motives, behavior, and environment. Any judge worth his salt gives weight to these things.

We also know that in Jn. 14.6 Jesus says, "No one comes to the Father except through me." I don't downplay that at all. C.S. Lewis wisely said: "We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him."

People will be judged on the basis of what they know and what they did with it. Many people think that the existence of the world is evidence of theism, and their knowledge of having a conscience speaks to an objective morality. Some people think that their thoughts and personality, as different from their physical bodies, is an indication of a "soul". Some people feel that they see evidences of spiritual realities around them.

Nowadays, of course, the Internet and technology have changed life radically. Just about everyone has heard something about Jesus, and the Internet allows them an opportunity to investigate.

There are also degrees of punishment in hell; it's not "One Fire Fits All." People can be punished worse or less based on their lives and what they deserve.

I happen to be convinced hell is not literally fire, but the agony of true separation from God. I say that because fire doesn't have degrees of punishment, but hell does. Degrees of separation makes more sense to me than degrees of being burned. I believe hell is degrees of punishment, based on the sin (though not levels of hell, as in Dante. Ironically, though, even Dante said hell is an endless, hopeless conversation with oneself). Here's my proof:

- Mt. 11.22-24 – "more tolerable"
- Mt. 23.14 – "greater condemnation"
- Rev. 20.13 – "each in proportion to his works"
- Lk. 10.12 – "it will be more bearable for Sodom than for that town"
- Lk. 12.47-48 – beaten with few blows or more blows

There are also many theories from thinking Christians that possibly hell is not eternal for everyone there, but there may be future opportunities for some to be reconciled to God after appropriate punishment and as they continue to make spiritual choices. Hell is a difficult doctrine to sort out. Without a doubt there are verses that talk about eternal punishment, but they don't necessarily include all of those who are separated from God. There are verses that talk about God reconciling all things to himself (Rom. 11.15; 2 Cor. 5.19; Col. 1.20), and so some theologians think that God will continue his work of reconciliation even into eternity, such that those who "serve their time" will at a later date be reconciled with God ("reconciliationism"). There is another position called "semi-restorationism" where, after appropriate punishment, those who desire a relationship with God will be partially restored, and those who do not, even after punishment, will opt to remain separated. So hell is eternal, but not necessarily eternal for everyone. While the Bible speaks about eternity, possibly only those who stay eternally defiant will be eternally punished. Some even believe in annihilation. It's hard to know.

My bottom line is this: Those who turn away from God will be separated from the life of God. Though we can't be sure about the form or duration of that separation, this we can be sure of: it will be a horrible experience, and God will be fair about the form and duration of it. If you reject God, you take your chances.