Why would a loving God send someone to Hell

Reflection

Why would a loving God send someone to hell is perhaps the single most common objection raised against Christian belief, and it deserves a serious answer rather than a defensive one. Part of the confusion lies in imagining hell as something God actively sends people to against their will, rather than as the outcome, however tragic, of a freedom God takes seriously enough to let people ultimately refuse him. C. S. Lewis put it memorably, that the doors of hell are locked from the inside, describing separation from God as chosen rather than arbitrarily imposed. God's stated desire, according to Peter, is that none should perish but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Holding together God's love and the reality of judgement is genuinely hard theology, and Christians have wrestled with the details for centuries, but the underlying claim is not that God delights in judgement, it is that love which never allows genuine refusal is not really love at all.

Questions to sit with

• Does the idea of hell make you angry, afraid, or simply confused, and why do you think that is?
• How do you understand the relationship between human freedom and divine love?
• Have you ever wrestled honestly with this question, or avoided it altogether?

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