Eternal Hell: Yes or No

[nobspeople]

When I joined this site, I (erroneously) assumed a Christian (by popular definition) believes in Eternal Hell damnation no matter the denomination or lack there of.
That doesn't seem to be the case with some of you (some believe it to be a temporary punishment, or not at all, etc). So I ask:

Do you believe in eternal hell (or eternal damnation if you like) or not?

If you do, who goes there?
Are there exceptions (mentally challenged people, newborn babies for examples)?

If you don't believe, why not?

What brings you to that conclusion?

[nobspeople]

…
What's the purpose of this, IYO? Punishment?
If not, what is its purpose?

I think the purpose is to get rid of evil people.

Why, do you think, he waits to get rid of some of the evil people, instead of getting rid of them immediately? Seems he allows evil people to do a lot of evil things (sometimes) to other people/animals/situations

[brunumb]

[Replying to 1213 in post #10]

I have reached the conclusion that I would much rather be an evolved sack of chemical reactions than a mere pawn in some pathetic deity's game.

[Paul of Tarsus]

Do you believe in eternal hell (or eternal damnation if you like) or not?

I believe there is eternal hell (Gehenna), which is a fire lake that burns forever. I don’t think anyone lives there eternally, because according to the Bible, soul and body are destroyed there.

Destroying body and soul isn't the same thing as stamping body and soul out of existence. I can destroy your car, but it may still exist as a heap of twisted metal and broken glass. In the same way a person's body and soul can go on existing in a "broken" or crippled state being tormented in hell.

Finally, it doesn't make sense for hellfire to exist forever if there are no souls to torment. What would be the point?

[1213]

Why, do you think, he waits to get rid of some of the evil people, instead of getting rid of them immediately?

I believe one reason is that people wanted to know evil. This “life” is like a lesson about good and evil and for that it is good to have also evil people around to show what it means and why the eternal life is only for righteous. Luckily this is only a short lesson.

[1213]

Destroying body and soul isn't the same thing as stamping body and soul out of existence. I can destroy your car, but it may still exist as a heap of twisted metal and broken glass. In the same way a person's body and soul can go on existing in a "broken" or crippled state being tormented in hell.

Finally, it doesn't make sense for hellfire to exist forever if there are no souls to torment. What would be the point?

Bible doesn’t directly tell the answer, so this is only my guess. I believe the reason for the eternal burning is that it is like a reminder of evil, why evil is bad (not because of the hell, but what evil people cause to others). But I agree, destroyed doesn’t mean the end of existence. However, I think they are not living, because eternal life is promised for righteous and the wage of sin is death. If no one would die, it there would be no reason to say that there is death.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

[nobspeople]

Why, do you think, he waits to get rid of some of the evil people, instead of getting rid of them immediately?

I believe one reason is that people wanted to know evil. This “life” is like a lesson about good and evil and for that it is good to have also evil people around to show what it means and why the eternal life is only for righteous. Luckily this is only a short lesson.

Evil is bad.
But to know evil it is good to have evil people around.
Then God destroys those evil people (if they don't repent I'm guessing)? Or are those evil people simply a pawn to be used to show others what evil is?

[1213]

...
But to know evil it is good to have evil people around.
Then God destroys those evil people (if they don't repent I'm guessing)? Or are those evil people simply a pawn to be used to show others what evil is?

There would have also been easier way, but people chose this way to know evil.

I wouldn’t call them pawns, because I think they are free individuals that can choose what they want. In a way they play for God’s benefit in this, but I think it would not be necessary and they also have opportunity to repent and reject evil, if they would want so.

But, as the Bible tells, eternal life is for righteous, if people are not righteous, they will not get it.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

[nobspeople]

[Replying to 1213 in post #18]

There would have also been easier way, but people chose this way to know evil.

What is the easier way? And while I know it's not all people, I'm sure many don't want to 'know evil'. That, to me, is simply a cry people make when they don't understand and or interact with people much in the real world.

I wouldn’t call them pawns, because I think they are free individuals that can choose what they want.

What would you call them, if they're being used by God as an example of the bad (or even the good), assuming they don't do it voluntarily?

[Paul of Tarsus]

Destroying body and soul isn't the same thing as stamping body and soul out of existence. I can destroy your car, but it may still exist as a heap of twisted metal and broken glass. In the same way a person's body and soul can go on existing in a "broken" or crippled state being tormented in hell.

Finally, it doesn't make sense for hellfire to exist forever if there are no souls to torment. What would be the point?

Bible doesn’t directly tell the answer...

The Bible does tell us why the lake of fire burns forever. Consider Revelation 14:9-11.

Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

I'm not sure how this passage could be any clearer that the damned are tormented forever in fire. What part of it don't you understand?

...so this is only my guess. I believe the reason for the eternal burning is that it is like a reminder of evil, why evil is bad (not because of the hell, but what evil people cause to others). But I agree, destroyed doesn’t mean the end of existence.

Why would anybody need to be reminded of evil? God will have conquered evil.

However, I think they are not living, because eternal life is promised for righteous and the wage of sin is death. If no one would die, it there would be no reason to say that there is death.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

The Bible uses the words life and death in different ways. Death in the context of salvation refers to damnation.

[brunumb]

The Bible does tell us why the lake of fire burns forever.

Lakes and fires are decidedly natural, physical phenomena. Lakes consist of liquid matter that has collected under the force of gravity and is contained within an impenetrable barrier. Fire is the result of the consumption of a fuel through chemical reactions that are exothermic and generate heat causing the gases produced to emit visible light. How is any of that consistent with a spiritual world where immaterial souls, presumably without nervous systems present in physical bodies, writhe and suffer pain for eternity?