Why do people believe in hell?

[southernhybrid]

The belief in hell was one of the first things that made me question the validity of the version of Christianity that I had been taught to believe as a child. I was about 7 when I started experiencing cognitive dissonance regarding this belief. It made me upset to think that this god who I had been taught was all loving had a place to punish people for all eternity. For years, I did my best to ignore it or try to understand it, until finally at the age of 18, I stopped believing in that version of Christianity and the hell that went with it.

So, when I read an article recently that asked why people believe in hell, I found it intriguing and disturbing. I'd like to know the thoughts of others, especially any Christian conservatives that dare to explain why they believe in hell.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opinion/sunday/christianity-religion-hell-bible.html?searchResultPosition=1

Once the faith of his youth had faded into the serene agnosticism of his mature years, Charles Darwin found himself amazed that anyone could even wish Christianity to be true. Not, that is, the kindlier bits — “Love thy neighbor” and whatnot — but rather the notion that unbelievers (including relatives and friends) might be tormented in hell forever.

It’s a reasonable perplexity, really. And it raises a troubling question of social psychology. It’s comforting to imagine that Christians generally accept the notion of a hell of eternal misery not because they’re emotionally attached to it, but because they see it as a small, inevitable zone of darkness peripheral to a larger spiritual landscape that — viewed in its totality — they find ravishingly lovely. And this is true of many.

But not of all. For a good number of Christians, hell isn’t just a tragic shadow cast across one of an otherwise ravishing vista’s remoter corners; rather, it’s one of the landscape’s most conspicuous and delectable details.

I know whereof I speak. I’ve published many books, often willfully provocative, and have vexed my share of critics. But only recently, in releasing a book challenging the historical validity, biblical origins, philosophical cogency and moral sanity of the standard Christian teaching on the matter of eternal damnation, have I ever inspired reactions so truculent, uninhibited and (frankly) demented.

The author goes on to explain that there really wasn't much evidence for such a belief in the early Christian writings.

No truly accomplished New Testament scholar, for instance, believes that later Christianity’s opulent mythology of God’s eternal torture chamber is clearly present in the scriptural texts. It’s entirely absent from St. Paul’s writings; the only eschatological fire he ever mentions brings salvation to those whom it tries (1 Corinthians 3:15). Neither is it found in the other New Testament epistles, or in any extant documents (like the Didache) from the earliest post-apostolic period. There are a few terrible, surreal, allegorical images of judgment in the Book of Revelation, but nothing that, properly read, yields a clear doctrine of eternal torment. Even the frightening language used by Jesus in the Gospels, when read in the original Greek, fails to deliver the infernal dogmas we casually assume to be there.[/QUOTE can't copy the entire article but you get the idea. So, why do people find the belief in hell so inviting? How is it that one can believe in a just god, and also believe in eternal punishment, sometimes just for not believing the same things as themselves?

I sort of get it, when a person says something like, that guy who got away with murder etc. will get his punishment when he dies". This is especially true if the person has never been punished in life for his/her evil deeds. It allows a person to believe that someone who is immoral will one day see justice. Even though that, imo, is a very silly belief, I can at least understand why it might be attractive, if one is able to take the supernatural seriously.

But, to believe that a nonbeliever, a person who believes in a different god, or even a very immoral person will be punished for all of eternity seems obsessively cruel. So, what is the attraction and how does a decent person maintain such a belief? It puzzles me because it haunted me during my early childhood. I rarely gave it much thought in my teens, and then finally at the age of 18, I was able to free myself from such horrible beliefs. How can some cling to this horror? What is it's appeal?

 

[Politesse]

It was the first part of my "orthodoxy" to go away, as a child. I realized one day that I would not create such a place, if I were God, and that it seemed ludicrous to claim that I was more merciful and compassionate than God. My views have evolved a bit over time; I'm a bit more sympathetic to the view of parts of the Eastern Church, that Hell describes the experience of God to one who has not been atoned to Him. But that sympathy does not extend to thinking that they are actually right. If you need to find Hell, for real, I think you need look no further than the simple hells we all create for each other. If there is a Satan, he must be thrilled at the way doctrines of hellfire shift people's attention away from their conduct toward one another and towards kowtowing to some contrived portrayal of God.

 

[abaddon]

What is its appeal?

What's the appeal among conservative and libertarian types to believe that the rich deserve their rewards and the poor chose their lot? Anything else would be a great injustice and like a world gone mad. The "haves" want their reward and they don't want bad people spoiling it by getting a reward too.

Also consider the great injustice of God forcing his love on you. A lack of hell for those who choose to live outside God's little circle of love would be a great injustice! You're not the most godlike/valuable feature of the created universe without free will.

So once the choice is presented, it becomes a matter of "you made that bed so lie in it".

It wouldn't seem fair if there aren't a mix of winners and losers and they each decide for themselves which they'll be. It's the difference between a universe with Order in it (you get your choice: A or B), and meaningless existence (no choices, no way to separate the good from the bad).

 

[skepticalbip]

Organized religions, like any organization, keep the members in line with a carrot and a stick. In a business organization, the member gets a carrot of a paycheck for following the rules and the stick of being fired for not following the rules. Organized religion's carrot and stick is heaven and hell.

People believe and accept the rules laid down by religions primarily because they were indoctrinated into it during childhood. They generally stick with the religion because they have been convinced it is true plus religion is a comforting security blanket and offers tribal identity.

A rejection of the religion's indoctrination would seem to offer a couple opportunities. Someone could either reject the whole idea of the supernatural as silly or could invent their own private fantasy of a supernatural realm tailor made to their own wishes of "what should be".

ETA:
I do find it odd that the question was why people are attracted to the idea of hell when the same question could be asked about heaven. Both are equally fanciful religious ideas.

 

[steve_bank]

In 6th grade a nun lost her temper with a kid. She took red chalk scribbling it all o the blackboard saying 'This is hell and this is where you are going!'.

I believe how people see hell goes back to Dante's Inferno.

I think in the OT there was Sheol, some nebulous place underground. It was not a place of a heaven - hell duality.

Why do people believe in anything?

Socially heaven, hell, and god were social controls on the uneducated illiterate peasant population.

 

[Politesse]

In 6th grade a nun lost her temper with a kid. She took red chalk scribbling it all o the blackboard saying 'This is hell and this is where you are going!'.

I believe how people see hell goes back to Dante's Inferno.

I think in the OT there was Sheol, some nebulous place underground. It was not a place of a heaven - hell duality.

Why do people believe in anything?

Socially heaven, hell, and god were social controls on the uneducated illiterate peasant population.

Indeed, the dead in Sheol merely slept, somewhat unrestfully. Gilgamesh travels to a similar underworld in his famous epic.

 

[excreationist]

Here are some excerpts from my sisters' pastor about how impressed he is with hell....

 

[DBT]

Heaven and Hell: a system of reward and punishment as means of behaviour control: keeping the faithful from straying from the faith.

Believe as we tell you to believe or very bad things will happen to you.

Tormented for ever and ever, amen, by the God of Love and Tender Mercy.

 

[James Brown]

When I see someone get away with evil, I comfort myself by believing that one day they'll get their just reward.

 

[Tigers!]

So, when I read an article recently that asked why people believe in hell, I found it intriguing and disturbing. I'd like to know the thoughts of others, especially any Christian conservatives that dare to explain why they believe in hell.

I take the Bible seriously, even the parts that horrify, baffle, confound me.
That means that cherry picking is not really acceptable.
That means that hell is pack of the package, notwithstanding whatever I may feel about it.The Bible treats it seriously so I must too.

 

[southernhybrid]

ETA:
I do find it odd that the question was why people are attracted to the idea of hell when the same question could be asked about heaven. Both are equally fanciful religious ideas.

Sure, I get that. But, if you already accept that the supernatural exists, why the attraction to a place where those who believe differently from yourself, will be eternally punished forever? That's what the author of the article is wondering. He never had so many hateful responses when he wrote a book that attempted to deconstruct the idea that eternal hell was ever a part of early Christianity. So, why is it that so many people can be attracted to such a cruel policy? How can people so easily swallow the idea that not only their enemies but their friends and family members will end up being eternal tortured? WTF!

At least, the concept of a heavenly afterlife isn't cruel. Plus some versions of hell are temporary, more like purgatory., I was telling my atheist husband who was raised Catholic, that purgatory or temporary hell was more like a place where one could be rehabilitated before going on to the nicer place.

 

[southernhybrid]

So, when I read an article recently that asked why people believe in hell, I found it intriguing and disturbing. I'd like to know the thoughts of others, especially any Christian conservatives that dare to explain why they believe in hell.

I take the Bible seriously, even the parts that horrify, baffle, confound me.
That means that cherry picking is not really acceptable.
That means that hell is pack of the package, notwithstanding whatever I may feel about it.The Bible treats it seriously so I must too.

I appreciate your reply Tigers, I really do, but you haven't really explained how you can accept the evil parts of the Bible. Have you ever considered that the current translations may not reflect the original intentions of Christianity?

Have you ever explored other, less dogmatic, less horrific versions of Christianity? Everyone does a little cherry picking, whether they realize it or not. After all, what you read in English is a translation from whatever original scriptures were available a couple of thousand years ago.

Plus, my limited understanding as one who was raised to believe in a very literalist version of Christianity, is that basically a bunch of men ( no women, just men ) decided what to put into the Bible. I'm sure they did plenty of cherry picking. I"m going by memory here, so feel free to correct me, but I was taught that these men were ordained by god to pick and choose what to put into the origin KJV Bible. That's nuts!

Doesn't it ever bother you to believe that some of your friends could end up being tortured forever.

I will say this. It must have bothered my own fundamentalist Christian mother, because about 10 years ago, my husband asked her if she thought I was going to hell, despite my being an atheist. My mother thought for a minute and then told my husband there was no way she could believe that I was going to hell. So, apparently, she had her own doubts, late in life, about the concept of eternal hell. Doesn't it ever bother you?

 

[southernhybrid]

It was the first part of my "orthodoxy" to go away, as a child. I realized one day that I would not create such a place, if I were God, and that it seemed ludicrous to claim that I was more merciful and compassionate than God. My views have evolved a bit over time; I'm a bit more sympathetic to the view of parts of the Eastern Church, that Hell describes the experience of God to one who has not been atoned to Him. But that sympathy does not extend to thinking that they are actually right. If you need to find Hell, for real, I think you need look no further than the simple hells we all create for each other. If there is a Satan, he must be thrilled at the way doctrines of hellfire shift people's attention away from their conduct toward one another and towards kowtowing to some contrived portrayal of God.

Good that you were able to rid yourself of that concept of eternal hell at a young age.

Perhaps, since you have a much more scholarly background in Christianity than most or all of us, you might know of some early Christian writings that contradict the idea of eternal hell. I think that's what the author of the article that I linked was claiming. If you are too busy to contribute more right now, I certainly understand.

I don't have a problem using heaven and hell as metaphors. I've been fortunate in that I can't say I've ever experienced hell on earth. Sure, I've been through some extremely difficult times in my life, but compared to what others have had to deal with, I've had it pretty good. My childhood was more like purgatory than hell, as I knew once I was an adult, I'd have a way out.

 

[Atheos]

Tigers! shows consistency. The topic is "Why do people believe in Hell" and IMO the answer is "'Cause the Bible tells me so."

If an oncologist tells you that based on her experience and analysis of your cancer you only have 6 months to live it doesn't matter whether or not you like the news. It's true whether you like it or not.

For those who accept the orthodox christian bible as the only (or primary) word of God, Hell is as much an inconvenient truth as a dire cancer prognosis. As an evangelical fundamentalist I used to appeal to the reality of Hell along with the warning by Jesus that most people were headed that direction (Matthew 7:13-14) to try to motivate congregants to be more pro-active in spreading the word.

But obviously like many doctrines, actual religious belief on this subject is all over the board. Part of the reason for this (I suspect) is because of the disconnect that has already been mentioned several times in this thread between an all loving and just god and eternal punishment. Each of us eventually comes to understand that there is no crime that could be committed in a finite lifetime that would merit eternal punishment. Much less so for the vast majority of humanity that will follow Jesus's aforementioned "Broad Way" out of ignorance. No matter how one claims the original Greek softens teachings about Hell you're still left with a place that you'd be better off amputating your hand or putting out your eyes if that's what it takes to avoid going there.

Like Tigers! I believed it because it was what the book said. I don't believe it any more but that's because I no longer believe in any gods.

 

[Elixir]

I think many religious types need some way to imagine a horrible fate that will be visited upon those with whom they disagree, or who disparage their superstitious beliefs. The fact that Hell is a basic fear/control mechanism to keep the collection plates full is beside the point for them.
The disconnect with any omni-benevolent superbeing is vast. Even flawed humans describe their confinement punishments as "correctional"; but the Xtian god doesn't torture people in the hope of rehabilitating them, it just likes to torture. Otherwise it would simply *poof* the evil out people of existence just like it *poofed* them into existence.

 

[Learner]

Christians are not expected to know everything about the bible which is still currently scuitinized and studied. But yes it's true there are those that believe in the bible regardless of how strange/ evill some verses may sound or appear, with the view that there is an explanation that will become clear eventually. I'm with Tigers.

The fear of hell tells me that believers would be quite concerned if they didn't write about true things thats happened to them and instead wrote about false things.

 

[Politesse]

It was the first part of my "orthodoxy" to go away, as a child. I realized one day that I would not create such a place, if I were God, and that it seemed ludicrous to claim that I was more merciful and compassionate than God. My views have evolved a bit over time; I'm a bit more sympathetic to the view of parts of the Eastern Church, that Hell describes the experience of God to one who has not been atoned to Him. But that sympathy does not extend to thinking that they are actually right. If you need to find Hell, for real, I think you need look no further than the simple hells we all create for each other. If there is a Satan, he must be thrilled at the way doctrines of hellfire shift people's attention away from their conduct toward one another and towards kowtowing to some contrived portrayal of God.

Good that you were able to rid yourself of that concept of eternal hell at a young age.

Perhaps, since you have a much more scholarly background in Christianity than most or all of us, you might know of some early Christian writings that contradict the idea of eternal hell. I think that's what the author of the article that I linked was claiming. If you are too busy to contribute more right now, I certainly understand.

I don't have a problem using heaven and hell as metaphors. I've been fortunate in that I can't say I've ever experienced hell on earth. Sure, I've been through some extremely difficult times in my life, but compared to what others have had to deal with, I've had it pretty good. My childhood was more like purgatory than hell, as I knew once I was an adult, I'd have a way out.

It's a complex issue. Your source quoted at the front isn't exactly wrong, but it does oversimplify an issue that is quite vigorously debated by Biblical scholars. Some feel that an idea like hell, albeit without some of the medieval trimmings, was critical to Christianity from the start, inherited from older traditions and accepted uncritically by the early church. There is a camp that thinks hell is not much older than the book of John, and that Jesus' teachings about Gehenna in the synoptic gospels are being badly misinterpreted. There is a crew which sees the entirety of early Christianity from a more Gnostic theological perspective (in which case the world of physical matter is hell, which Jesus is liberating us from through the acquisition of wisdom) and the gospels do make sense when read from that perspective.

Personally, I think it is very likely that the early churches lacked consensus on these issues. There was no central authority on these issues for the first three centuries, and church communities seem to have had only occasional contact with each other. Just as today mussionary communities often adapt the gospel to apply to cosmology as it is understood in the area they are missionizing, I suspect most early Christians believed more or less whatever "everyone knew" around them about the world and its composition. Greek-looking models for Grecophone Christians, Persian-looking models for Near Eastern Christians, syncretic Egyptian-looking models for Coptic churches, etc.

Theology wraps itself around prevailing cosmologies, it seldom defines them. Consider how much scientific language is co-opted by conservative Christians despite their opposition to certain scientific findings. How often do you meet someone who believes that the earth is flat? This is clearly implied by the Bible, yet Flat-Earthers are considered the lunatic fringe of the church and number in the thousands only. Why? Because, excepting the cleverest, the most eccentric, or the already socially outcast classes, most people are uncomfortable straying too far from what is "generally known" within their community about the basic nature of the world.

You have the addotional problem, as a scholar, that ancient authors seldom explain clearly what their cosmology actually is. Imagine you were a future archaeologist sifting through the remains of a modern library. You would find numerous references in popular literature to the "Big Bang" or "Evolution" or "Germs". But unless you lucked out and hit the science section, you'd be reading for quite a while before any author bothered to clarify what these popular theories actually proposed, and many of the explanations you found would seem to contradict each other. People are quite cavalier about referencing things that "everyone knows", and symbols are malleable by nature.

 

[skepticalbip]

ETA:
I do find it odd that the question was why people are attracted to the idea of hell when the same question could be asked about heaven. Both are equally fanciful religious ideas.

Sure, I get that. But, if you already accept that the supernatural exists, why the attraction to a place where those who believe differently from yourself, will be eternally punished forever? That's what the author of the article is wondering. He never had so many hateful responses when he wrote a book that attempted to deconstruct the idea that eternal hell was ever a part of early Christianity. So, why is it that so many people can be attracted to such a cruel policy? How can people so easily swallow the idea that not only their enemies but their friends and family members will end up being eternal tortured? WTF!

Human nature. People like to feel special. If everyone went to heaven then heaven wouldn't be an exclusive, special place and those who made it wouldn't be one of "the select". The greater the difference in status between "the select" and the hoi polloi, the more special they feel.

At least, the concept of a heavenly afterlife isn't cruel. Plus some versions of hell are temporary, more like purgatory., I was telling my atheist husband who was raised Catholic, that purgatory or temporary hell was more like a place where one could be rehabilitated before going on to the nicer place.

My understanding is that the church introduced the idea of purgatory sometime around 1100. It gave them a great money making scheme. Selling of indulgences, not possible without purgatory, drastically increased the wealth and power of the church.

 

[ideologyhunter]

1. Us vs. Them; the Beloved Community versus the bad other.
2. Simple revenge, "They got ya!" Consider how many conservative Christians support the death penalty.
3. Cognitive dissonance, in that their preachers are always telling them that forgiveness is a distinctive, God-mandated act for Christians and in fact an identifying virtue of the saved. Surprise -- GOD DOESN'T FORGIVE!! In fact, he mandates eternal punishment for temporal sins, including the sin of doubt, and it's totally unredemptive suffering -- it is literally unredemptive.
4. For the literalists, it's a matter of believing their scriptures. How many times does the Prince of Peace have to mention the wailing and gnashing of teeth before you figure he believes in hell?
C. S. Lewis has a ridiculous passage justifying hell; I think it's in The Problem of Pain but I long ago traded in my Lewis paperbacks. In that passage he describes a totally wicked and unrepentant man who is so evil that God would have to cast him out of heaven when he died -- which of course ignores the fact that Lewis could have a mild-mannered, kindly grandma who'd be roasting in hell with Mr. Evil, if she simply died in a state of unbelief.
Only Christians could believe in both a merciful god who incarnated himself as the blameless martyr and Prince of Peace -- the Love God -- and the god who presides over a cauldron of unending misery into which the unbelievers and assorted sinners are dumped. Makes about as much sense as the Trinity or the Bible teachings on genocide, slavery, menstruation, adultery tests, virginity tests, etc.

 

[rousseau]

I've had a fun time reading the bible lately, and my reading of it leads me to believe that Christian theology isn't an external construction independent of human nature, but rather a reflection of human nature itself. Any reasonable person wouldn't write what they believed to be the word of God, and so Christian theology amounts to a kind of psychological projection of the people writing it.

With that in mind the concept of hell likely made it's way into Christian theology primarily because the people who introduced it liked the idea of sinners being punished. Ironically it was Jesus who said 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone'.

Why Christians believe in it? Because they want the package (Christianity), and are willing to accept that part of the package to get the whole. Doubting hell leaves room to doubt their beliefs in there entirety. Easier to accept hell is real than live with the cognitive dissonance of their beliefs being inconsistent.