biblical teaching on both destinations stands or falls together.
If I had a choice, that is if Scripture were not so clear and conclusive, I would certainly not believe in Hell. Trust me
when I say I do not want to believe in it. But if I make what I want—or what others want—the basis for my beliefs, then I am a follower of myself and
my culture, not a follower of Christ. "There seems to be a kind of conspiracy," writes novelist Dorothy Sayers, "to forget,
or to conceal, where the doctrine of hell comes from. The doctrine of hell is not 'mediaeval priestcraft' for frightening
people into giving money to the church: it is Christ's deliberate judgment on s i n . . . . We cannot repudiate Hell without
altogether repudiating Christ." 39 In The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis writes of Hell, "There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it
lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord's own words; it has always been held
by Christendom; and it has the support of reason." 40
IS IT UNLOVING TO SPEAK OF HELL?
If you were giving some friends directions to Denver and you knew that one road led there but a second road ended at a sharp
cliff around a blind corner, would you talk only about the safe road? No. You would tell them about both, especially if you
knew that the road to destruction was wider and more traveled. In fact, it would be terribly unloving not to warn them about that other road.
For the same reason, we must not believe Satan's lie that it's unloving to speak to people about Hell. The most basic truth
is that there are only two possible destinations after death: Heaven and Hell. Each is just as real and just as eternal as
the other. Unless and until we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we're headed for Hell. The most loving thing we can do
for our friends and our family is to warn them about the road that leads to destruction and tell them about the road that
leads to life.
It would upset us, but would we think it unloving if a doctor told us we had a potentially fatal cancer? And would the doctor
not tell us if the cancer could be eradicated? Why then do we not tell unsaved people about the cancer of sin and evil and
how the inevitable penalty of eternal destruction can be avoided by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ?
Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth-century Carmelite nun, had an agonizing vision of Hell. She later wrote of the torment she endured:
I was terrified by all this, and, though it happened nearly six years ago, I still am as I write: even as I sit here, fear
seems to be depriving my body of its natural warmth. I never recall any time when I have been suffering trials or pains and
when everything that we can suffer on earth has seemed to me of the slightest importance by comparison with this. . . . It
has been of the greatest benefit to me, both in taking from me all fear of the tribulations and disappointments of this life
and also in strengthening me to suffer them and to give thanks to the Lord, Who, as I now believe, has delivered me from such
terrible and never-ending torments. 41
If we understood Hell even the slightest bit, none of us would ever say, "Go to Hell." It's far too easy to go to Hell. It
requires no change of course, no navigational adjustments. We were born with our autopilot set toward Hell. It is nothing
to take lightly—Hell is the single greatest tragedy in the universe.
God loves us enough to tell us the truth—there are two eternal destinations, not one, and we must choose the right path if
we are to go to Heaven. All roads do not lead to Heaven. Only one does: Jesus Christ. He said, "No one comes to the Father
except through me" (John 14:6). All other roads lead to Hell. The high stakes involved in the choice between Heaven and Hell
will cause us to appreciate Heaven in deeper ways, never taking it for granted, and always
If I had a choice, that is if Scripture were not so clear and conclusive, I would certainly not believe in Hell. Trust me
when I say I do not want to believe in it. But if I make what I want—or what others want—the basis for my beliefs, then I am a follower of myself and
my culture, not a follower of Christ. "There seems to be a kind of conspiracy," writes novelist Dorothy Sayers, "to forget,
or to conceal, where the doctrine of hell comes from. The doctrine of hell is not 'mediaeval priestcraft' for frightening
people into giving money to the church: it is Christ's deliberate judgment on s i n . . . . We cannot repudiate Hell without
altogether repudiating Christ." 39 In The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis writes of Hell, "There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it
lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord's own words; it has always been held
by Christendom; and it has the support of reason." 40
IS IT UNLOVING TO SPEAK OF HELL?
If you were giving some friends directions to Denver and you knew that one road led there but a second road ended at a sharp
cliff around a blind corner, would you talk only about the safe road? No. You would tell them about both, especially if you
knew that the road to destruction was wider and more traveled. In fact, it would be terribly unloving not to warn them about that other road.
For the same reason, we must not believe Satan's lie that it's unloving to speak to people about Hell. The most basic truth
is that there are only two possible destinations after death: Heaven and Hell. Each is just as real and just as eternal as
the other. Unless and until we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we're headed for Hell. The most loving thing we can do
for our friends and our family is to warn them about the road that leads to destruction and tell them about the road that
leads to life.
It would upset us, but would we think it unloving if a doctor told us we had a potentially fatal cancer? And would the doctor
not tell us if the cancer could be eradicated? Why then do we not tell unsaved people about the cancer of sin and evil and
how the inevitable penalty of eternal destruction can be avoided by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ?
Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth-century Carmelite nun, had an agonizing vision of Hell. She later wrote of the torment she endured:
I was terrified by all this, and, though it happened nearly six years ago, I still am as I write: even as I sit here, fear
seems to be depriving my body of its natural warmth. I never recall any time when I have been suffering trials or pains and
when everything that we can suffer on earth has seemed to me of the slightest importance by comparison with this. . . . It
has been of the greatest benefit to me, both in taking from me all fear of the tribulations and disappointments of this life
and also in strengthening me to suffer them and to give thanks to the Lord, Who, as I now believe, has delivered me from such
terrible and never-ending torments. 41
If we understood Hell even the slightest bit, none of us would ever say, "Go to Hell." It's far too easy to go to Hell. It
requires no change of course, no navigational adjustments. We were born with our autopilot set toward Hell. It is nothing
to take lightly—Hell is the single greatest tragedy in the universe.
God loves us enough to tell us the truth—there are two eternal destinations, not one, and we must choose the right path if
we are to go to Heaven. All roads do not lead to Heaven. Only one does: Jesus Christ. He said, "No one comes to the Father
except through me" (John 14:6). All other roads lead to Hell. The high stakes involved in the choice between Heaven and Hell
will cause us to appreciate Heaven in deeper ways, never taking it for granted, and always
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