Belief in an Eternal Hell Means Love Fails—Our Love and God's Love—and Both Fail Eternally.

The concept of eternal hell suggests that God, who is supposed to be truly good and loving, condemns some persons to endless suffering. To punish people forever for actions committed within a finite lifetime reveals a deeply flawed and fundamentally unjust nature—a punishment entirely out of proportion to any crime.

Even more disastrous is that such a concept, if it were actually true, would absolutely negate the two primary commandments given us by Christ Jesus. Two commandments Jesus said on which, "the whole Law and the Prophets completely depend."

Commandment One: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" - Matthew 22:37

Commandment Two: "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" - Matthew 22:39

As regards Commandment One, how can anyone genuinely love a God who condemns people to endless suffering? Such a God would NOT be One of Goodness and Love, but a Cruel Monster!

As regards Commandment Two, how can we love our neighbors, knowing they might be condemned forever? The bible says love never fails, but it MOST CERTAINLY DOES if eternal damnation is true! For loving our neighbors as we love ourselves MUST CEASE once our neighbors are sent to hell forever, with no hope of release. Our love cannot ever help them there, and thus our love fails.

If one believes in an eternal hell, one MUST ACCEPT that love fails—our love and God's love—and both fail eternally. Moreover "the whole Law and the Prophets" fail as well, for they depend on those two commandments!

God then becomes a limited God; not really a God at all! Judgement then triumphs over mercy; the Gates of Hades prevail; and the Word of God becomes a lie. Insisting on belief in an eternal hell destroys not just those unfortunate persons sent there, but destroys forever God's goodness, mercy and love, and completely invalidates His Word.

May it never be!

No, God is truly perfect goodness and perfect love. God is our benevolent creator who ultimately desires that ALL persons be saved! God is BY NO MEANS responsible for creating a system in which some persons are destined to suffer eternally.

Eternal damnation is a warped system, created by men, whose doctrines CAN NEVER SAVE ANYONE! This man-made doctrine is logically incoherent and morally bankrupt. Its foundation depends on the deliberate mis-translation of the Greek words "aiōn" and "aiōnios," which DO NOT mean "eternal" or "forever." The word "aiōnios" actually refers to an age or era—a long but limited period of time with a beginning and an end. It describes something that belongs to or characterizes a particular age, something age-lasting or age-during, but NOT something that continues without end.

This distinction is crucial, as it transforms the concept of "aiōnios punishment" from "eternal torment" to "age-lasting correction," the latter obviously a period of time infused with a divine purpose and an eventual conclusion. The widespread meaning of "eternal torment" used in so many English bibles today is a stunning reminder at best of the confusion and imperfection that is inherent in ANY translation effort, and at worst reflects the unavoidable reality that both our bibles and the "doctrines" based on them are in error.

As if Satan would never attempt to do exactly this! As if evil men would never substitute one word for another in the 'official state bible' to serve their own selfish ends! As if Jesus had no need of pronouncing woes on scribes! As if the writer of Revelation would have no need of warning against changing a single word of his prophecy!

Of course, the corruption of God's Word would be the ultimate aim of Satan! Of course, the process of translation introduces imperfections! Of course, history tells us how and when these words were switched! Given the abject depravity of fallen man, why would any of this NOT occur?

In New Testament times, there already existed a Greek word that precisely meant "eternal" or "forever." Yet this word—"aidios," which literally means "always existing"—appears only twice in the entire Bible. Despite numerous opportunities, New Testament writers such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul (except for a single instance in Romans 1:20), Peter, James, and the author of Hebrews NEVER used this word. They ALL steadfastly avoided it, suggesting they had specific reasons for doing so.

Yet about four-hundred years after Christ's resurrection, when the Greek New Testament was translated into Latin, translators used the Latin word "aeternus," which DOES means "forever" or "eternal," to represent both Greek words "aiōnios" and "aidios." While "aeternus" accurately translates "aidios," it was a terrible and misleading choice for "aiōnios," because it totally lost the original meanings related to ages, long ambiguous periods, and a certain quality of time. This translation choice, an obvious error, became widely accepted when the Roman Church/State adopted Jerome's translation (the Vulgate) as its approved version. Through many centuries this error has persisted. Whole doctrines of men depend on this error. Long-standing theological traditions would be brought to swift ends if this error was resolved. But this would mean the end of many wealthy denominations and long-cherished traditions. And so, the error has been robustly defended and propped up even to this day. The only casualties being logic, truth, and the Goodness and Love of God.

Ultimately, the true message of the Bible is the triumph of God's love, leading to reconciliation and salvation for everyone! According to the bible there are three things that endure from age to age: hope, faith and love. The greatest of these, wrote Paul, is love. He insisted that love never fails. If this is true, and I certainly believe it is, there can NEVER exist a place where certain persons are tormented throughout ALL ages, with no hope ever of escape or pardon.

Deep in our heart of hearts, we know this to be true: God never fails! Love never fails! And one day we all will be reconciled to Him and saved by Him. That this is stated in Scripture over and over and over again should not surprise but comfort us.

We ALL know better, really. God is love! He is our bridge over ALL the troubled waters of ANY age. God's love IS the Good News of the bible. His love never expires, and His intent is that ALL will be saved. Even death cannot defeat His Love. Thornton Wilder wrote, "there is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning."

Let this be the age we finally reject the false doctrines, failed denominations, and error-prone translations of fallen men, and instead turn to the One, True, Living God! The Rock of Ages! The God Who Saves; to Whom Salvation belongs, and to His Son, the Lamb of God: Jesus Christ, Who takes away the sins of the entire Cosmos!

Let Christ's love be our greatest, highest goal. And let us firmly reject doctrines which falsely claim God condemns some persons to hell forever—doctrines that would, if possible, cause both His love and our love to fail. Such teaching is rubbish!

Instead, let us joyfully sing:

"The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell."

author: Jerry Dan Deutschendorf