God, Evil & Hell

Where was God? “If God is God, he’s not good. If God is good, he’s not God. You can’t have it both ways, especially after the Indian Ocean catastrophe.” How would you respond?

Evil & Suffering AREN’T Evidence Against God? Why?

Why? Just because you can’t see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen doesn’t mean there can’t be one. Example of Joseph

“With time and perspective most of us can see good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that occurs in life. Why couldn’t it be possible that, from God’s vantage point, there are good reasons for all of them?” Tim Keller

Evil & Suffering May Be Evidence FOR God. Why?

Why suffering may be evidence FOR God If there is no God, how do we determine the “fairness” of suffering?

Consider This - “The problem of tragedy, suffering, and injustice is a problem for everyone. It is at least as big a problem for non-belief in God as for belief. It is therefore a mistake, though and an understandable one, to think that if you abandon belief in God it somehow makes the problem of evil easier to handle.” Tim Keller

Christianity offers true consolation Peter Kreft points out that the Christian God came to earth to deliberately put himself on the hook of human suffering. In Jesus Christ, God experienced the greatest depths of pain.

Christianity offers true consolation “Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment.” -Tim Keller

Christianity offers hope in suffering Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:1-4

Christianity offers hope in suffering “The Biblical view of things is resurrection – not a future that is just a consolation for the life we never had but a restoration of the life you always wanted.” - Tim Keller

But - If we think of resurrection and the hope of life after death, this raises another troubling issue. What about hell?

What about hell? C.S. Lewis once said the doctrine of hell is “one of the chief grounds on which Christianity is attacked as barbarous and the goodness of God impugned.”

What is hell? What are some popular perceptions of hell?

What is hell? Hell is NOT a torture chamber?

Hell is a place of anguish Jesus said that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus likened Hell to Gehenna, the garbage dump outside Jerusalem.

God doesn’t torture people in Hell. Ezekiel 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? Ezekiel 18:23 Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?' Ezekiel 33:11

Hell is defined in relation to God “The essence of hell is relational. Christianity says people are the most valuable things in the entire creation. If people matter then personal relationships matter, and hell is largely relational. In the Bible, hell is separation or banishment from the most beautiful being in the world – God himself.” - J. P. Moreland, professor of philosophy & ethics

Hell is defined in relation to God “We know how selfishness and self-absorption leads to piercing bitterness, nauseating envy, paralyzing anxiety, paranoid thoughts, and the mental denials and distortions that accompany them. Now ask the question: “What if when we die we don’t end, but spiritually our life extends one into eternity?” Hell then, is the trajectory of a soul, living a self-absorbed, self-centered life, going on and on forever.” – Tim Keller

How would you respond? A God of judgment simply can’t exist. A God of Judgment can’t be a God of love. A Loving God would not allow Hell You must be a narrow person to believe in eternal judgment. A loving God would not punish and judge people.

So what? Regardless of what others think, if we believe in hell, the stakes are high. Sharing our faith is essential. We have a powerful message of consolation and hope.

So What?