Is Conscious Eternal Torment Reasonable?

          A common objection that we hear to the doctrine of an eternal hell is that it makes God cruel, unloving, and unjust. However, it is presumptuous for us as creations to put our standards above that of our Creator. He does not operate on the same plane as we do in our conceptions of what is right and fair. Moreover, the reason that hell exists is that God is holy and just. The degree of punishment that one receives for a crime depends on the standard violated. Sin is an offense against God, whose glory and dignity is infinite. Hence, hell is eternal or unending.

          It does not require much mental effort to observe that eternal salvation naturally corresponds to eternal condemnation. The idea, though terrifying and unpleasant, is perfectly reasonable. What we should find shocking is the fact that God even sent His Son to redeem us stiff-necked people from the sentence that we so justly deserve. We cannot simply water down His character to make Him pleasing to ourselves and other people. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ spoke more concerning hell than He did heaven, which is what we would expect of a Messiah.

           Annihilation is an inadequate theory on how God deals with unrepentant and unbelieving people. If the wrath of God is satisfied, then why should He destroy the soul of the sinner in the first place? Would not that person have satisfied the terms as to the duration of his sentence? If the wrath of God has not been satisfied, then why should He put an end to the designated punishment? A person who does not exist cannot be punished. God would be compromising His holiness by destroying people who have already completed their due sentence.

          There is much more to Christianity than merely escaping from the wrath of God, which is only one of the first spiritual benefits to be conferred upon a converted soul. Conversion marks the beginning of us being reconciled to Him as well as our lifestyle following that experience. As regarding the immortality of the human soul, only God is eternal in the sense that He is uncreated and self-sufficient. Our souls continue to thrive after physical death for the reason that they are sustained by His power. The doctrine of eternal conscious torment was never intended to be a pleasant idea.