There is no Hell

First of all I have a personal question for you that doesn't relate to this debate: Are these views your own or do they represent the beliefs of the Lutheran church? Opponent: "If my daughter is in Hell because she did not get "born again" then I'd rather go to Hell and be with her than to be with your God because there would be more love in Hell than near your vindictive God." First of all, I totally reject the statement that God is vindictive. If God is so vindictive then why doesn't he just destroy the world for all of the sin that is in it? Opponent: "How can you say burning someone alive forever is "just" or "fair" for everyone who hasn't accepted Jesus Christ?" It is just and fair because we all have the capacity to believe in Jesus Christ. Like if you see a child that's been run over by a car, and you do not stop to help him or her you are just as bad as the person driving the car. And plus, some people don't deserve eternity in paradise. Opponent: You say the punishment is the same regardless of the number of sins committed or how bad they were. This is not justice--this is insanity!" It is irrelevant how many sins you have committed. As it says in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son and whoever believes in him shall never die but have eternal life." So the requirements for entering Heaven is not walking the straight and narrow: It's a belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God. Opponent: "Infinite punishment for finite crimes just doesn't seem just." I would like to disagree. We all know we only have so much time on this Earth. So, if we choose not to follow Christ in the only life we have, what other option does God have? Opponent: "I could never torture people endlessly, especially my own children. How can you say that God will do that to His children? This seems hideous. You make God look like a monster worse than Hitler, not a loving Father Who would even die for His enemies!" God is a loving God. However, he is also a just God. There are several examples of this in scripture. The first is the story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve did something they were told they couldn't do. Therefore, they were kicked out of Eden. So this proves that God is a just God. I believe that God is just as human as the rest of us and he gets angry, sad, happy, etc. That's like your mother doesn't love you because she's grounded you a couple of times. Opponent: "If the wages of sin is eternal punishment in Hell, then Jesus would have to be eternally punished if in fact He died for my sins. But the Bible says the wages of sin is death which is exactly what Jesus did--died. So how can you say people will be eternally tortured in Hell? Is Jesus presently being eternally tortured in place of those who accepted Him as Lord? No, first of all Jesus was only dead for three days. He was resurrected and 40 days later ascended to HEAVEN. A first grade Sunday school class could tell you that... And secondly, when the Bible says the wages of sin is death. It's not talking about physical death, it is talking about going to Hell. Opponent: If Hell as a place of everlasting tortures was the real fate of all mankind unless they did something here on earth to prevent it, why didn't God make that warning plain right at the beginning of the Bible? Why didn't he tell Adam and Eve that? Because he didn't know if they would eat from the tree of good and evil. Opponent: "If Hell is real and it is a place of eternally being separated from God, why does David say in the King James Bible, "Though I make my bed in Hell (Sheol) lo, Thou art there?" That was the OLD testament. The NEW testament (which is the basis of Christianity, and aren't we debating about Christian Hell; not Jewish Hell) makes several references to Heaven and Hell. And I thought you were trying to prove that Hell doesn't exist, well you just contradicted yourself. And I believe that when Christ returns a 2nd time, those who died before his death will be able to ascend to Heaven. Opponent: "If Hell is real and if good people go to heaven and bad people go to Hell, why does EVERYONE, good or bad, go to the same place in the Old Testament?" Because it's the Old Testament. That is Judaism, we're in the NEW testament, which is Christianity. I thought we were debating about CHRISTIAN hell; at least that is what you said. And I believe in the Old Testament God was still angry at the world because of Adam and Eve. Opponent: "If Hell was real, why did Church leaders as late as the fourth century AD acknowledge that the majority of Christians believed in the salvation of all mankind?" Christians are people. People don't always get everything right. Opponent: If Hell doesn't exist in the Old Testament, how could Jesus and his disciples teach that salvation was deliverance from a place that is not even found in their Scriptures? Jesus never spoke of deliverance from Hell. He spoke of deliverance from Evil. Opponent: Okay, let me make a hypothesis. Maybe this was added to the Bible later or it was a mistake in translation (the meaning of the word Gehenna [used in the passage] is debatable). There happens to be the valley of Gehenna (or something like it.) Since you have no proof that it was mistranslated, I would have faith in the Bible and believe that that scripture is true.