Hell. Will Lots of People Go There?

[Michie]

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Really?

Earlier this week I posted on Twitter X about universalism and someone opined that the opposite of universalism must be “zealous infernalism” Which I take to mean “an active desire not only for the reality of eternal torment, but the perverse desire that many people will go there.”

I don’t think the alternative to universalism is quite so stark. It is possible to criticize universalism while also criticizing “zealous infernalism”. I believe in the reality of hell, but that doesn’t mean I like it. Indeed, I’m afraid of hell and wish universalism were true, but that’s a kind of magic thinking. You know…”If you believe in fairies clap your hands…”

If there is such a place as hell, and we are assured by the gospel and by common sense that there is, who will go there and why?

Does God send people to suffer for all eternity in hell? Why would he do that if he is a God of everlasting mercy and love? Sending people to be tortured forever doesn’t really fit with an all loving God does it?

If there is a hell and if people go there is it really forever? If so why? Can’t people change their minds?

First we can answer the question of whether or not hell is eternal. It has to be eternal because God made human beings in his image and he is eternal. All of us have eternity locked within us. All of us will live forever. All that remains therefore is to decide where that will be.

Continued below.

Hell. Will Lots of People Go There? | Fr. Dwight Longenecker

Really? Earlier this week I posted on Twitter X about universalism and someone opined that the opposite of universalism must be "zealous infernalism" Which I take to mean "an active desire not only for the reality of eternal torment, but the perverse desire that many people

dwightlongenecker.com

 

[chevyontheriver]

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I'm betting this guy gets to find out how fabulous it is. Sad.

 

[RileyG]

I'm betting this guy gets to find out how fabulous it is. Sad.

He’s very sick in his soul. Ugh

 

[Pepperdoodle]

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matt 7: 13-14.

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" Matt 7: 21-23.

 

[joymercy]

Yes

 

[RileyG]

Yes

I think there will be more people in hell than heaven, based on what our Blessed Lord said.

 

[Paulwat]

I really don’t believe a loving and caring God would ever create or allow a place of eternal torment. Eternal punishment doesn’t align with divine love, mercy, or justice—no one deserves to suffer forever. The idea of hell as a place of never-ending fire and pain actually comes from mistranslations over time. The original words in Scripture, like Sheol and Gehenna, refer to the grave or a place of destruction—not eternal torture.

God’s plan is about restoration and life, not endless suffering. Those who reject goodness or love simply don’t experience eternal life—they return to the dust. A truly loving God wouldn’t take pleasure in pain; He offers peace, not punishment.

 

[Pepperdoodle]

I really don’t believe a loving and caring God would ever create or allow a place of eternal torment. Eternal punishment doesn’t align with divine love, mercy, or justice—no one deserves to suffer forever. The idea of hell as a place of never-ending fire and pain actually comes from mistranslations over time. The original words in Scripture, like Sheol and Gehenna, refer to the grave or a place of destruction—not eternal torture.
God’s plan is about restoration and life, not endless suffering. Those who reject goodness or love simply don’t experience eternal life—they return to the dust. A truly loving God wouldn’t take pleasure in pain; He offers peace, not punishment.

God doesn't go by our beliefs, feelings, opinions.
He's a God of love, but also one of justice.
The god you speak of is one of your own imagination.
There's no "mistranslations" involved.
His word doesn't say He takes pleasure in it, just like a parent who has to discipline their child doesn't' take pleasure in it.
God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. It's not Him who has moved, but those who don't believe the truths taught in the whole counsel of His word.

What denomination, if any, are you?

 

[Paulwat]

God doesn't go by our beliefs, feelings, opinions.
He's a God of love, but also one of justice.
The god you speak of is one of your own imagination.
There's no "mistranslations" involved.
His word doesn't say He takes pleasure in it, just like a parent who has to discipline their child doesn't' take pleasure in it.
God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. It's not Him who has moved, but those who don't believe the truths taught in the whole counsel of His word.

What denomination, if any, are you?

I understand where you’re coming from, and I absolutely agree that God is just as well as loving. But it’s also important to recognize that Scripture has gone through centuries of translation, editing, and interpretation—often influenced by culture, language, and theology of the time.

The original Hebrew texts never mentioned a place of eternal torment. Words like Sheol simply meant “the grave” or “the place of the dead,” not a realm of fiery punishment. Judaism, the foundation of Christianity, has never believed in a hell of eternal suffering—that concept developed much later in history.

The idea of “eternal punishment” became popular in Western thought largely through medieval literature, most famously Dante’s Inferno, which shaped how people imagined hell far more than the Bible ever did.

A truly loving and just God doesn’t torture His creation forever. The original message was about life, death, and renewal—not endless suffering.

At my Christian school they never mentioned hell and external punishment.

 

[Colo Millz]

Hell - the possibility of eternal separation from God.

Jesus spoke of Hell in order to emphasize the seriousness of moral and spiritual choices.

He doesn’t present hell as arbitrary but as the self-chosen result of rejecting divine love.

 

[Colo Millz]

...

The idea of “eternal punishment” became popular in Western thought largely through medieval literature, most famously Dante’s Inferno, which shaped how people imagined hell far more than the Bible ever did.

...

Matthew 5:22 — “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell (Gehenna) of fire.”

Matthew 10:28 — “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Mark 9:43–48 — “It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”

Matthew 25:41–46 — the parable of the sheep and goats:

“Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels... and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

2 Thessalonians 1:9 — “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord.”

Revelation 14:11 — “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.”

Revelation 20:10, 14–15 — “The devil... was thrown into the lake of fire... and if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Jude 7 — “Suffering the punishment of eternal fire.”

The cause of hell is not God's cruelty, but human refusal of grace.

For Augustine and Aquinas hell is eternal separation from God and the “fire” is metaphor for anguish at losing God.

 

[Paulwat]

Matthew 5:22 — “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell (Gehenna) of fire.”

Matthew 10:28 — “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Mark 9:43–48 — “It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”

Matthew 25:41–46 — the parable of the sheep and goats:

“Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels... and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

2 Thessalonians 1:9 — “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord.”

Revelation 14:11 — “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.”

Revelation 20:10, 14–15 — “The devil... was thrown into the lake of fire... and if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Jude 7 — “Suffering the punishment of eternal fire.”

The cause of hell is not God's cruelty, but human refusal of grace.

For Augustine and Aquinas hell is eternal separation from God and the “fire” is metaphor for anguish at losing God.

I appreciate you sharing those verses — they’re important to look at carefully. But many of these “hell” passages come down to translation and cultural context.


In the original texts, Jesus never used the English word hell. He said Gehenna, which was a real valley (the Valley of Hinnom) just outside Jerusalem. It had been a place of child sacrifice in ancient times and later became a burning garbage dump — a vivid symbol of ruin and destruction. So when Jesus warned about Gehenna, He was describing the tragic consequences of sin — complete loss and decay — not endless conscious torment after death.


Matthew 25’s “eternal fire” comes from the Greek aionios, which literally means “of the age” or “age-lasting,” not “never-ending.” It describes the permanence of the outcome (death, destruction), not perpetual suffering. Likewise, eternal punishment (kolasis aionios) in Greek refers to corrective judgment or pruning, not eternal torture.


Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 actually say “eternal destruction” — the Greek olethron aionion means the complete end of something, not eternal conscious pain. Revelation’s “lake of fire” is highly symbolic imagery in an apocalyptic vision; it represents final death and purification, not literal burning forever.


Even Judaism — the foundation of Jesus’ worldview — never taught eternal torment. Sheol was simply the grave, and later Jewish thought viewed Gehenna as a temporary place of correction lasting up to twelve months. The notion of unending punishment entered Christian imagination much later, shaped by writers like Dante and church tradition, not the original biblical languages.


So these verses don’t prove eternal torment — they warn of the seriousness of rejecting love and truth, and of the real loss of life that follows. But God’s justice is restorative, not vindictive; His goal is always healing, not endless pain.

---

 

[Michie]

I really don’t believe a loving and caring God would ever create or allow a place of eternal torment. Eternal punishment doesn’t align with divine love, mercy, or justice—no one deserves to suffer forever. The idea of hell as a place of never-ending fire and pain actually comes from mistranslations over time. The original words in Scripture, like Sheol and Gehenna, refer to the grave or a place of destruction—not eternal torture.

God’s plan is about restoration and life, not endless suffering. Those who reject goodness or love simply don’t experience eternal life—they return to the dust. A truly loving God wouldn’t take pleasure in pain; He offers peace, not punishment.

A reminder you cannot debate our beliefs here Paul.

 

[Pepperdoodle]

At my Christian school they never mentioned hell and external punishment.

What denomination was that school?

 

[Pepperdoodle]

A reminder you cannot debate our beliefs here Paul.

Can you clarify what you mean by this?
I've only been in this forum for about 2 months, so curious what you mean.
Thanks.

 

[Palmfever]

Can you clarify what you mean by this?
I've only been in this forum for about 2 months, so curious what you mean.
Thanks.

Mat 7:13 -
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

From the mouth of Christ.
End of debate.

 

[Pepperdoodle]

Mat 7:13 -
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
From the mouth of Christ.
End of debate.

My reply was to Michie.

 

[Paulwat]

What denomination was that school?

It was a Christian primary school that did an assembly every week where thry would read part of the bible to us, at the end of assembly everyday we would say a prayer together, and sing Christian songs in the assembly. And we would hear amazing stories about inspiring and helping others and messages Jesus taught.

They were a good school that focussed on all the positives of Christianity.

 

[Pepperdoodle]

It was a Christian primary school that did an assembly every week where thry would read part of the bible to us, at the end of assembly everyday we would say a prayer together, and sing Christian songs in the assembly. And we would hear amazing stories about inspiring and helping others and messages Jesus taught.

They were a good school that focussed on all the positives of Christianity.

Ok, I understand, but that doesn't tell me what denomination the school was...baptist, catholic, lutheran, etc, etc

 

[Lady Bug]

I always want hell to not be true but since we don't know anything for sure until after we die, I will make it my priority not to go there. Nothing else matters except that first.