Does God stop loving those who have died in their transgressions? Is it even a matter of God loving them, if hell is complete and utter separation from God? Since God is love, and God is gone, then the soul is bereft of love. But is hell separation from God? Luke 16 implies that Hell is also a bit of psychological torture, as well as physical torture.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
That crafty Abraham. He sure knows how to let you know that not only are you in agony, but there’s no hope of ever receiving respite from the pain. Yet there seems to be communication between heaven and hell. Now perhaps this is allegorical. It is a parable, designed to teach a lesson, but whether it depicts the literal circumstances of the spiritual planes is another topic for scrutiny.
But doesn’t Scripture say that Jesus preached the gospel to those souls imprisoned in Hell during his time in the ground? Hmmm. This is more difficult, because if He did, there are a number of theological problems that arise as a result. Here are a couple of good resources on this topic, if you’re interested in exploring. Ultimate conclusion? No, Jesus did not go to Hell and preach to dead people. For one, He could not have preached the whole Gospel, since the Resurrection is the biggest part, and it hadn’t happened yet. Suffice to say, I think the implication to studies on this matter conclude that souls who are dead have no chance of redemption, no second chance, if they had not previously been saved.
So the question remains: does God stop loving those who have died and are not held in His grace?
I don’t know. But He loves all who are still alive, that I do know.
I have a question.
If God (in his infinite power, wisdom and love so unlimited that it is beyond our puny human capacity to imagine, much less understand) put evil-doers in Hell because of their evil deeds, then how am I, the puny, limited human, expected to love and forgive evil-doers?
Because Christ set the example for us when He forgave our sins and took them upon himself. Because we have been forgiven, we can also forgive and love others.
Sounds trite, maybe (yeah, it does) but it’s a simple truth.
I think the whole concept of hell is even simpler than that.
The whole concept of free will is that humans have the capacity to choose between the path to Heaven’s light or the path to Hell’s darkness.
When we die it becomes more of a question of being able to realize (for lack of a better word) the existence of the light. For oen who has lived a life toward darkness, he or she is simply unable to realize it, or sense it. This becomes the psychological torture (the lack of realization) and physical torture (sensory confusion).
God offers His love to every single one of us. It’s up to us to realize it, accept it, and embrace it.
Christian Carnival Hits the Mission Fields
Spare Change is the honored host of this week’s Christian Carnival. In the ministry gracefully entrusted to me, I have the distinct privilege teaching and encouraging men to live out their faith in simple everyday acts of obedience. To help…
Christian Carnival Hits the Mission Fields
Spare Change is the honored host of this week’s Christian Carnival. In the ministry gracefully entrusted to me, I have the distinct privilege teaching and encouraging men to live out their faith in simple everyday acts of obedience. To help…
I’m not all that sure that we should even worry about it, especially if we have faith in God. If God still loves those in hell, then so be it. And why wouldn’t God? He gave those souls an opportunity for salvation and communion with Him. They rejected God. Suppose your children went away, never to see you again because they rejected you, even after you had given them everything. Wouldn’t you still love them as your children, though punishment was deserved?
Chet, your comment reminds me of Milton for some reason. The concept of light and darkness within a person’s soul, and their capacity to realize the presence of both seems to be a fairly reasonable, and biblical, response to this question.
Strat, I’m not really worried about it – just curious, is all.
Curiosity leads to further study, which is good.
Milton via Lucas, most likely. (George Lucas, that is. LOL!)
In my peer ministry in High School, Heaven and Hell were hot topics amongst the teens and pre-teens. I always found the Light/Dark realization analogy worked best for me as well as most of the others who found the more literal interpretations of Heaven and Hell rather flawed.
I tend to believe life after death exists in a realm of consciousness. And your perception in that consciousness plays a large part in determining your state of bliss or suffering.
Light
Jeremiah reminded me of one of my favorite poems.
LIGHT
HAIL holy light, ofspring of Heav’n first-born,
Or of th’ Eternal Coeternal beam
May I express thee unblam’d? since God is light,
And never but in unapproach?d light
Dwelt from Et…