What Kind of God Would Condemn People to Eternal Torment?

by Tim Challies

If you haven’t been asked this question, you will. It’s the weightiest matter anyone will ever face. The key is to look at the question from a different angle—what kind of God would not condemn His enemies to an eternal hell?

How can you believe in a God who would condemn people to suffer the torments of hell eternally? I have been asked this question many times and, if you are a Christian, you probably have too. If you haven’t, you would do well to get working on an answer because the question may not be too far off. 

Hell is no laughing matter, despite cartoons and lampoons to the contrary. In all the world, in all eternity, there are few matters weightier than this one, and to every man and woman there is no issue more urgent.

You’re Asking the Wrong Question

How can you believe in a God who would condemn people to suffer the torments of hell eternally? I reply with a question of my own: “How can you believe in a God who would not?”

Mocking Jesus: Blasphemy Reveals Condition of Darkened Hearts

SHAWN A. AKERS

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President Barack Obama

For two days, I struggled with writing this column. My spirit has grieved over it immensely. 

I have prayed in earnest about what God would have me say about a subject that I have become so passionate about. I have asked Him for wisdom and guidance so that I would not be offensive in my words. I have even told myself that I cannot write it in fear that some would take umbrage.

But fear, as I know from reading the Word, comes from Satan. And I know that from 2 Timothy 1:7 that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind.”

With that in mind, I would like to address the recent intense trend in American society that has seen the public mocking of Jesus Christ. By now, you have probably seen the video of Jamie Foxx declaring President Barack Obama as “our lord and savior.” And, the story that Charisma posted Wednesday about the painting depicting President Obama as Jesus, with a crown of thorns on his head and his outstretched arms.