Lots of controversy out there regarding Hell, which you can find for yourself. Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" has been the catalyst for much of it. In the book, he raises some pointed questions about this doctrine, and I'd like to address one of them here.
Tim Stoner expresses one of the, to me, most pointed questions Bell raises:
God wants everyone to be saved and God is God, does that not lead to the conclusion that all will be saved? Anything less, Bell argues, means that God fails and human sin prevails. It means that God would have to take the stage with Mick Jagger and “shrug God-sized shoulders and say, ‘You can’t always get what you want’” (LW 103). And that, for a host of reasons, could never be.
Can we really say that if souls wind up in Hell, God has failed? Has He failed them? It's God's will that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9), yet apparantly many do; sooo...
Let me offer three points about God's character and Hell:
His holiness compels there to be a separation, a chasm if you will (ala Luke 16:19ff):
“For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot lodge with You.” --Psalm 5:4
His mercy compels Him to warn us:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! The city who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not
willing!" --Matthew 23:37
His love compels Him to give us a choice:
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17
Would it change your opinion of God to know He has done everything possible to keep you and your beloved ones out of Hell? In fact, He so loved the world...
