Faith & Culture
Eternal punishment for a few decades of sin isn't fair.
Short answer
We don't measure wrongs by how long they took. A crime takes minutes; its weight depends on what was done and against whom. Sin is rebellion against the infinitely good God. And hell isn't God keeping people who are begging to come home; it's God finally giving people what they have chosen: life without him. Judgment is also fair and measured (Romans 2:6), and God "wants everyone to be saved" (1 Timothy 2:4).
In simple words: God is fair, and he never wants anyone to be away from him. But he lets people choose, and he made a way for everyone to be forgiven through Jesus.
Response
This is a serious question, and Christians should answer it with humility. Jesus spoke about hell more than anyone else in the Bible, and he did it to warn and to save, not to scare people for fun.
First, we don't measure wrongs by how long they took. A murder can take seconds and deserve a lifetime sentence. The weight of a wrong also depends on whom it's against: kicking a rock, a dog and a person are three very different things. Sin is turning away from the infinitely good God who gives us every breath.
Second, the Bible pictures judgment as perfectly fair. God "will repay each one according to his deeds" (Romans 2:6), and "the dead were judged according to their deeds" (Revelation 20:12). Jesus taught that some will receive "many blows" and some "few" (Luke 12:47-48). No one will be treated unjustly.
Third, hell is, in the end, the choice to be without God, made permanent. C. S. Lewis put it this way: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'" Many Christian thinkers believe those who reject God keep rejecting him, so the separation continues. Jesus does speak of "eternal punishment" alongside "eternal life" (Matthew 25:46). Christians agree it is real and final, though they describe what it is like in different ways.
Most of all, God doesn't want anyone there. "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live" (Ezekiel 33:11). He came in person and took the judgment on himself so that no one has to face it (John 3:17).
Key evidence
- The seriousness of a wrong depends on what it is and whom it's against, not how long it took.
- Scripture describes judgment as according to deeds and proportionate (Romans 2:6; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12).
- Jesus pairs "eternal punishment" with "eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
- God takes no pleasure in anyone's death and wants all to be saved (Ezekiel 33:11; 1 Timothy 2:4).
Bible passages
- Romans 2:6 God repays each according to deeds.
- Luke 12:47-48 Many blows and few blows.
- Matthew 25:46 Eternal punishment and eternal life.
- Ezekiel 33:11 God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
- John 3:17 God sent his Son to save the world.
Quotes
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done."”
C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (1945)
Discussion questions
- Why doesn't the length of time a wrong takes decide how serious it is?
- What does it mean that God gives people what they have chosen?
- How does the cross change the way we think about hell?