BY DAN DELZELL, SPECIAL TO CP
January
9, 2014|10:19
am
"I
could never believe in a God who sends people to hell." This common objection,
while sincere, is nevertheless untrue and illogical. How can you say it is
"untrue" Dan if someone really means it? This is how. Just walk through the
reasoning with me if you will.
First
of all, think about what the person is saying. He is saying that if the biblical
teaching about heaven and hell is correct, then he would never believe in a God
who allows people to spend eternity in a place of suffering. This rationale is
both illogical and irrational. His objection is based on a premise that the
biblical teaching about hell is correct, which is a premise he already
rejects.
It's
like saying, "I could never believe in a God who sends people to a place which I
am convinced doesn't exist." Huh? How do you know you could never believe such a
thing when you do not yet even believe in hell, yet alone believe in Christ?
An
unbeliever is someone who does not believe in Jesus as Savior. And I have yet to
meet an unbeliever who is convinced that hell as described in the Bible is real.
So an unbeliever's lack of faith has to do with a lack of faith in Jesus, rather
than a lack of faith in hell. He is first an unbeliever in Jesus, and only later
an unbeliever in hell.
We
can all agree that the following statement is true: "The biblical description
regarding hell and those who go there is either true or false." So the objection
is that the person would never believe in God if the biblical description is
true. I disagree, and I think you will too in a couple minutes. Here is why.
The
biblical teaching, as well as the personal experience of Christians, is that a
believer is given a new heart and begins to love God because of what Christ has
done to save his soul. Millions of Christians believe in God while also
believing the difficult doctrine that God sends people to hell. It is not only
possible to hold these two positions, but many Christians accept both of them
simultaneously. CP.
