Hell is Payback

[Mark Corbett]

There is a problem in my mind with your view. If all those unsaved are annihilated, then all incur the "death sentence" irrespective of the severity of their sins. Thus a little nice old lady who lived a "moral" life but who never believed and trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of her sins suffers the same fate as Hitler. Our own penal system is based on the severity of one's crimes which is what justice is all about. Can God whom we know is just, do any less?

Thanks for bringing this up.

I believe that there will be conscious suffering before the unrighteous perish. The length and severity of this suffering may vary depending on the nature of a person's sins, how much knowledge they had of God's will, and other factors, all determined by God's wise and perfect justice.

 

[Oldmantook]

Thanks for bringing this up.

I believe that there will be conscious suffering before the unrighteous perish. The length and severity of this suffering may vary depending on the nature of a person's sins, how much knowledge they had of God's will, and other factors, all determined by God's wise and perfect justice.

That would be a plausible explanation. The only thing though is that they all ultimately suffer the same fate which is annihilation. So presumably the little old lady suffers a little before she is extinguished but Hitler suffers exponentially worse before he is extinguished. Again that may be a reasonable explanation but it brings up a deeper question which may bring some fruit to this discussion. Is the purpose of hell/lake of fire ultimately punitive or redemptive?

Suppose someone breaks into my home and steals my expensive TV and sells it. That person is found guilty and goes to jail where he spends a certain amount of time and is then released from jail. Obviously the person was punished for his crime but there is no restitution for me as I still don't have my TV. In order for the thief and I to be truly reconciled, I would forgive him and he would get me another TV. As I read though both the OT and NT, it appears that God does in fact punish, but His overall purpose is not punishment in itself but punishment as a means of chastisement in order to ultimately bring about reconciliation and redemption. That was the case with Israel throughout the OT. In the NT, the same holds as the Father prunes us as branches not for punishment in itself but for discipline in order to bring about change and reconcile us to Him. Based on this redemptive thread throughout both the Old and New Testaments, I submit that the evidence weighs more heavily in favor of a universal redemption of humankind via the lake of fire verses annihilation in the lake of fire.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[ClementofA]

My argument was and is there is a punishment worse than death. I was not arguing which punishment under the law was worse. Hebrews 10:28 says there is a punishment worse than dying without mercy.

And all the irrelevant fluff aside, my argument remains as solid as ever. Substituting any means of death under the law of Moses for stoning makes no difference to its veracity:

Heb.10:28 A man that hath set at nought Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: 29 of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Stoning to death is not a very sore or longlasting punishment. People suffered far worse deaths via the torture methods of the eternal hell believing Medieval Inquisitionists and the German Nazis under Hitler.

Therefore, if the writer of Hebrews believed the wicked would be punished with something so monstrous as being endlessly annihilated or tormented, he would not have chosen to compare their punishment to something so lame as being stoned to death. Clearly he did not believe Love Omnipotent is an unfeeling terminator machine or sadist who abandons forever the beings He created in His own image & likeness so easily.


Unique Proof For Christian, Biblical Universalism

 

[ClementofA]

There is not going to be a resurrection for the people out of the lake of fire. They will be abhorred by the people at the time of the new earth.

Revelation 5:13 is John's vision of universal salvation that will be literally fulfilled in the future. You could call it the chapter 23, or missing chapter, of Revelation. It equates to the "I am making all new" of Revelation 21:5.

It includes everyone in the universe, including the dead and demons:

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

John speaks of "every creature" & to emphasize this again he repeats "and all that are in them":

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

This worship (v.13) uses the same worshipful words as the redeemed of vs 9-10 use in v.12:

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

All this being in the context of salvation - "the Lamb that was slain" (v.12 & 13).

Scholar's Corner: The Center for Bible studies in Christian Universalism

 

[Mark Corbett]

Thanks for your reply and the tone of your interaction.

. . . . Again that may be a reasonable explanation but it brings up a deeper question which may bring some fruit to this discussion. Is the purpose of hell/lake of fire ultimately punitive or redemptive?

Yes, the question you bring up is relevant and important.

Based on this redemptive thread throughout both the Old and New Testaments, I submit that the evidence weighs more heavily in favor of a universal redemption of humankind via the lake of fire verses annihilation in the lake of fire.

In this life, I completely agree that God's purposes in punishment are redemptive. His punishments serve to warn the unrighteous that they need to repent. And yes, He prunes us, and this involves painful discipline for us which bears good fruit in the long run.

However, when the Bible is speaking of final punishment, the focus shifts to justice, pay back, and vengeance. This is a major point of the OP. Here are some verses on this theme:


Deuteronomy 7:10, 32:35, 32:41
Psalm 28:4, 94:23
Proverbs 24:12
Isaiah 59:18
Hosea 4:9, 12:2, 12:14
Matthew 16:27
Romans 2:6, 12:19
2 Thessalonians 1:6-7
2 Timothy 4:14
Hebrews 10:30

Based on this redemptive thread throughout both the Old and New Testaments, I submit that the evidence weighs more heavily in favor of a universal redemption of humankind via the lake of fire verses annihilation in the lake of fire.

Even some of the verses quoted above could leave room for ultimate reconciliation, except that the Bible explicitly states that the unrighteous will be burned to ashes. Ashes cannot repent or be reconciled.

NIV 2 Peter 2:6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

It's not just this one verse. I wrote a separate blog post on this topic:

Downburned and Ashified

The unusual wording of the post title above is based on a very literal translation of two of the Greek words used to describe the final fate of the unrighteous. If you (or anyone) goes and reads the post, I encourage you to return to this thread to discuss it.

 

[Oldmantook]

The wide gate leads to destruction- many there be that go in.
This road never leads to life.

The narrow road leads to life- few there be that find it.
/narrow gate is entered by few

There is not going to be a resurrection for the people out of the lake of fire. They will be abhorred by the people at the time of the new earth.
Daniel told they rise -some to - shame -everlasting contempt/abhor

Pay attention to the Greek verb tenses.
“Enter (eiselthate | εἰσέλθατε | aor act imperative 2 pl) through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and easy the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter (eiserchomenoi | εἰσερχόμενοι | pres mid ptcp nom pl masc) through it. Matt 7:13

How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and few are those who find (heuriskontes | εὑρίσκοντες | pres act ptcp nom pl masc) it! Matt 7:14

In v.13 the word for 'enter' is the Greek word 'eiserchomenoi' which as noted is a present tense participle more accurately translated as 'entering.' Thus all this verse is saying is that there are many who are presently entering the wide gate. This verse does not refer at all to sometime in the future where people may or may not be resurrected out of the lake of fire. If it did, this verse would employ the future tense of the verb - but it doesn't. We can only say what this verse states - simply that when Jesus spoke these words, many are entering the broad gate/road.

Same thing with v.14. The word for 'find' is 'heuriskontes' which is a present tense participle. Thus few people are currently 'finding' the narrow gate. No reference at all to the future.

 

[Der Alte]

Revelation 5:13 is John's vision of universal salvation that will be literally fulfilled in the future. You could call it the chapter 23, or missing chapter, of Revelation. It equates to the "I am making all new" of Revelation 21:5.
It includes everyone in the universe, including the dead and demons:
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
John speaks of "every creature" & to emphasize this again he repeats "and all that are in them":
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
This worship (v.13) uses the same worshipful words as the redeemed of vs 9-10 use in v.12:
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
All this being in the context of salvation - "the Lamb that was slain" (v.12 & 13).

Revelation 21:5-8
(5) He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
(6) He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
(7) Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
(8) But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."​

Verses 5-8 are a continuous narrative.Vs. 5 all things are new. Vs. 6 it is done but in vs. 8 there are still groups of people being thrown into the lake of fire.

 

[ClementofA]

Even some of the verses quoted above could leave room for ultimate reconciliation, except that the Bible explicitly states that the unrighteous will be burned to ashes. Ashes cannot repent or be reconciled.

NIV 2 Peter 2:6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

However you believe that the souls of Sodom's people today are not ashes, but exist consciously somewhere. So to say "ashes cannot repent" is irrelevant, since it is souls that repent, not dead corpses or cremated bodies in graves.

If 2 Pet 2:6 is an example of the future destiny of all the ungodly, all it is saying in light of resurrection is their bodies will get a temporary death.

Universalism – The Truth Shall Make You Free

 

[ClementofA]

Revelation 21:5-8
(5) He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
(6) He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
(7) Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
(8) But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."​

Verses 5-8 are a continuous narrative.Vs. 5 all things are new. Vs. 6 it is done but in vs. 8 there are still groups of people being thrown into the lake of fire.

Like i said, Revelation 5:13 speaks of a time beyond the punishment in the lake of fire. As does 1 Cor.15:22-28 & other passages of the Scriptures.

Unique Proof For Christian, Biblical Universalism

 

[Der Alte]

Like i said, Revelation 5:13 speaks of a time beyond the punishment in the lake of fire. As does 1 Cor.15:22-28 & other passages of the Scriptures.

Thank you for this unsupported speculation of the chronology of widely separated verses in Revelation. How does your presumed chronology fit with the divisions delineated in Revelation?

Revelation 7:1 After this...
Revelation 7:9 After these things...
Revelation 11:11 ...after the three and a half days...
Revelation 18:1 After these things..
Revelation 19:1 After these things...​

Now let us review your proof text again.

Revelation 21:4-8
(4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
(5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
(6) And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
(7) He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
(8) But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.​

Vs. 4 no more death, vs. 5 all things new and vs 8 groups of people still being thrown into the lake of fire which is the second death.

 

[ClementofA]

Thank you for this unsupported speculation of the chronology of widely separated verses in Revelation. How does your presumed chronology fit with the divisions delineated in Revelation?

Revelation 7:1 After this...
Revelation 7:9 After these things...
Revelation 11:11 ...after the three and a half days...
Revelation 18:1 After these things..
Revelation 19:1 After these things...​

Now let us review your proof text again.

Revelation 21:4-8
(4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
(5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
(6) And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
(7) He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
(8) But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.​

Vs. 4 no more death, vs. 5 all things new and vs 8 groups of people still being thrown into the lake of fire which is the second death.

A number of versions read at Rev.21:5 that God is "making" all things new. It sounds like it hasn't happened yet, but is an ongoing process. Is "all" already made completely new (21:5), immortal & incorruptible when nations still need healing from the leaves of trees (22:2; Ezek.47:12)? Has death and reigning been abolished (1 Cor.15:24-26) while reigning continues (22:3-5 & 21:23,24)? No. Is "all" new while there are still those suffering in the lake of fire or in second death? No & no.

This sounds like just payback, not endless annihilation or tortures:

Rev.18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

1 Corinthians 15:

"The last enemy that shall be abolished is death" (vs. 26).

Death is abolished (v.26). God becomes All "in" all (1 Cor.15:28). Even in all who were in Adam (v.22).

"Just as surely as the abolition of slavery entails freedom for those formerly enslaved, the abolition of death entails life for those formerly dead."

This includes everyone in the universe, including the dead and demons:

Rev.5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

John speaks of "every creature" & to emphasize this again he repeats "and all that are in them":

Rev.5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

This worship (v.13) uses the same worshipful words as the redeemed of vs 9-10 use in v.12:

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

All this being in the context of salvation - "the Lamb that was slain" (v.12 & 13).

Revelation 5:13 speaks of a time beyond the punishment in the lake of fire.

Universalism – The Truth Shall Make You Free

 

[Oldmantook]

In this life, I completely agree that God's purposes in punishment are redemptive. His punishments serve to warn the unrighteous that they need to repent. And yes, He prunes us, and this involves painful discipline for us which bears good fruit in the long run.

However, when the Bible is speaking of final punishment, the focus shifts to justice, pay back, and vengeance. This is a major point of the OP. Here are some verses on this theme:

Indeed I agree with you that the focus shifts to justice and punishment, but again how can
God be just when ultimately all the unbelieving suffer the same fate? Per your view, God will torment the little old lady for a little while before he extinguishes her while he will torment Hitler for a long while before he extinguishes him. That's like giving the same death sentence to both a thief who stole a loaf of bread and to someone who is a serial killer. What's even worse is that they are tormented in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb (Rev 14:10). That's like adding salt to the wound. This sounds unjust to me and even sadistic on God's part but perhaps that's just me.

My view is that God's ultimate goal and purpose is to reconcile all to himself: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that He might be holding preeminence in all things, because all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Him, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace by the blood of His cross through Him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heaven" (Col 1:17-20). Since God is sovereign, what he purposes to do, he will accomplish whether it be in this age or the age to come.
"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:10). According to this verse every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. The universal scope and emphasis of this verse is hard to ignore. If one attempts to accommodate and reconcile this verse with your view, then what we have is even those in the lake of fire eventually bow their knees and confess Jesus as Lord - only to then be extinguished.

Even some of the verses quoted above could leave room for ultimate reconciliation, except that the Bible explicitly states that the unrighteous will be burned to ashes. Ashes cannot repent or be reconciled.

NIV 2 Peter 2:6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

It's not just this one verse. I wrote a separate blog post on this topic:

Downburned and Ashified

The unusual wording of the post title above is based on a very literal translation of two of the Greek words used to describe the final fate of the unrighteous. If you (or anyone) goes and reads the post, I encourage you to return to this thread to discuss it.

In your blog article you point out the significance of katakaiō citing Matt 3:12; 13:30 which I have no problem with. However also notice 1 Cor 3:10-17:
According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
The Greek word for 'burned up' in v.15 is the same word katakaiō used in Matt 3:12; 13:30. Note however that what is burned up is not the chaff/tares but the man's work. Consequently he will suffer loss but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. One does not have to guess or infer that a human being/soul will be burned up as this scripture makes it clear that a man's fleshly work will be burned up. I acknowledge that there is no direct connection with this passage and the lake of fire in terms of where and when this burning up takes place. However I offer it as a plausible alternative to your view which in my mind is more in keeping with God's ultimate purpose in reconciling all things to himself.

 

[Emmy]

Dear Mark Corbett. To pay back is certainly hell, God is Love, and God wants loving sons and daughters.
Jesus died for us, and now Jesus lives for us: Jesus is THE WAY. Jesus told us in Matthew 22: 35-40: The first and great Commandment is: Love God with all thy hearts, with all thy souls, and with all thy minds. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself. On these 2 Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Love is very important to our heavenly Father, and for us to live up to.
The Bible tells us: Give up all our selfish wishes and wants, help our neighbour to to be as God wants us all to be: loving and caring. Matthew 7: 7-10: tells us: Ask and to receive, we ask for love and compassion, for joy and peace, then we thank God and carry on loving and be kind to all we know and all we meet, our neighbour. God sees our loving and caring, and God will BLESS us greatly. Let us give up all selfish wishes and wants, and start living as God wants us to; why not try Mark? Love is CATCHING.
I say this with love, and greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[Mark Corbett]

Dear Mark Corbett. To pay back is certainly hell, God is Love, and God wants loving sons and daughters.
Jesus died for us, and now Jesus lives for us: Jesus is THE WAY. Jesus told us in Matthew 22: 35-40: The first and great Commandment is: Love God with all thy hearts, with all thy souls, and with all thy minds. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself. On these 2 Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Love is very important to our heavenly Father, and for us to live up to.
The Bible tells us: Give up all our selfish wishes and wants, help our neighbour to to be as God wants us all to be: loving and caring. Matthew 7: 7-10: tells us: Ask and to receive, we ask for love and compassion, for joy and peace, then we thank God and carry on loving and be kind to all we know and all we meet, our neighbour. God sees our loving and caring, and God will BLESS us greatly. Let us give up all selfish wishes and wants, and start living as God wants us to; why not try Mark? Love is CATCHING.
I say this with love, and greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

Emmy, I agree with all that you wrote. I'm wondering if there is anything I've written that would have led you to think that I do not already agree with loving God and loving neighbor as our great life principle?

Grace and Peace, Mark (with Hope and Joy!)

 

[Mark Corbett]

Dear Mark Corbett. To pay back is certainly hell, God is Love, and God wants loving sons and daughters.

In the midst of a discussion on the nature of Hell, I'm thankful for a reminder from Emmy that God is love and as a result our lives should be all about love.

I don't think that means that we should not discuss Hell, or that a correct doctrine of Hell is inconsistent with love. But it's nice to stop every now and then and think specifically about love, which drives all God does and should drive all we do.

I have started and participated in several in depth discussions on the nature of Hell. This doctrine is important and perhaps because it is controversial my threads on this topic tend to get WAY more views than threads I've started on other topics. If you would like a refreshing look at some other topics I'll offer one of my earliest threads, as well as my latest, which I posted yesterday:

Love in Romans

Heart Matters: Jesus Loves Me this I Know

 

[Mark Corbett]

You made several careful arguments in comment #95 above. I only have time to respond to one of them now. If I'm able I will try to come back to some of the others.

You quote Phil 2:10:

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:10).

And then you reason from that verse as follows:

According to this verse every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. The universal scope and emphasis of this verse is hard to ignore. If one attempts to accommodate and reconcile this verse with your view, then what we have is even those in the lake of fire eventually bow their knees and confess Jesus as Lord - only to then be extinguished.

There are some who believe this verse means that the unrighteous will be forced to bow and confess, and I admit that interpretation is possible. However, I believe there is a much more likely interpretation which flows from taking annihilationism seriously. This verse looks forward to a time when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess because at that time the knees and tongues of the unrighteous will no longer exist. They will have been burned to ashes. I wrote about this more extensively in the OP for another thread here:

Ashes Can't Repent (A Big Problem for the Universalist Story)

 

[DarkSoul999]

As human beings we are bounded in both time and place. That is to say, we are finite. On the other hand we think of God as completely unbounded. God exists outside of both time and space. God is present everywhere and at all times. That is to say, God is infinite. This is the orthodox theistic understanding of God. To compare the finite to the infinite is beyond our human comprehension. Even to compare a grain of sand to Mount Everest falls far, far, far short. All of this brings up a number of questions in my mind.

The first question being “How is it even possible for a finite creature to offend an infinite God?” Could a grain of sand offend Mount Everest?

The second question being “Even if it were possible for the finite to offend the infinite, would the infinite punishment of a finite creature be just?” I will attempt to craft an analogy. You are in a park enjoying a picnic lunch when you glance down and notice an ant crawling across your sandwich. You are offended. How do you react? You have a number of options. You could ignore the ant. You could brush the ant away. You could move to a different location. You could kill the ant. You could kill the entire ant colony. You could capture the ant and confine it and proceed to torture it for several weeks until it finally dies. That last option is quite inadequate as a comparison to hell because hell is infinite in duration whereas the ant can only be tortured for a finite length of time.

To me the concept of hell flies in the face of any concept of a just and compassionate God. Hell would seem to be an entirely human invention based on a vindictive concept of retributory justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of hell. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of God. I completely reject the concept of hell as it is traditionally understood in most Christian churches.

Unless we are so powerful that God holds us infinitely accountable. Our mortal limitations are to be despised and we are to hate ourselves for every error, every limitation, and every inadequacy. If you cannot make yourself levitate and then soar through the sky just by thinking about it then you ought to be furious...because God demands infinite capacity along with that infinite accountability. Likewise we should be able to instantly heal people and raise the dead...

uhhhh yet not a single person on Earth even comes close...

The only other way to justify infinite torment in Hell is that God knows full well that we are stupid, weak, and inadequate and just doesn't care. He holds us infinitely accountable for no other reason than to magnify the value of the cross. That would make sense....but we're still too weak and dumb to be infinitely accountable!