Hell:

It's all the rage right now.  Rob Bell has made it THE topic of debate in circles with nothing better to do.  I haven't read "Love Wins" or any of Bell's other works, and this is not a conversation about Bell or any of his books.  But, he does love asking questions, and has done a good job of getting people to consider their stance on hell.  So, I'm going to question....some....questions....or something.

Alright, here's my thought process.  Hell is either eternal or it is not.  Bell thinks it might not be, I will play the advocate and say it is.  There's no real middle ground here.  Hell happens when you die without a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  Again, talking about the place after you die, I'm sure someone could wax poetic about the hell around us everyday or something.  I'm talking about classic dead people and demons hell.

Bin Laden went to hell upon his death.  He did not go to heaven at least.  I'm not supremely well versed in the lake of fire/Hades timeline, so to save time and typing I'm just calling it all hell since it's not heaven.  Bin Laden went to hell after he was shot and died.  Now, how long is he staying there?

I'll let those of you with something to do in on a secret.  This isn't really about Bin Laden, it's about our deficient view of hell and sin.  So, now that you know, you're free to go or read on.

Usama masterminded the murder of 3000 people on 9/11.  He's been involved with the deaths of countless other people.  He was a bad guy.  And, he'll either spend eternity without God's goodness tormented continuously or at some point he'll be freed and allowed into heaven.

Did you get a weird feeling at the thought of him being in heaven?  I did, and I am the guy that just wrote that he wished Bin Laden had turned his life around and gotten saved.  It's an unattractive prospect to imagine him being freed from hell to stand by the saints in heaven but, here's the alternative.

The late Usama will spend all of eternity being punished for the deaths of thousands.  Here's where I think most people are.  Most aren't imagining an end to his punishment.  They are picturing him paying for what he did forever.  But, does he deserve to be punished forever?  Shouldn't at some point he pay his penance for his evils?  Does he really deserve an ETERNITY of horror and torture?

Yes, it was horrible and he was a devilish individual, but eternity without end?   I mean, what if he did 1000 years for every life he took?  Wouldn't that seem fair?  That's a really long time and hell wouldn't get any easier the longer he was there.

Wait, that means he'd get out.  If he had a hand in the death of 10,000 people he'd do 10, 000, 000 years of unrelenting torment and anguish for his crimes.  But, he'd still get out.  He'd still get to come to heaven.  


I'm not arguing for Bin Laden's eventual release from heaven, I'm arguing that Hell is an unfair punishment for people's actions against other people here on earth.  It is, no one deserves an eternal hell for even Bin Laden level crimes.  If you disagree then you don't have a real grasp on how awful hell really is. There isn't a crime worthy of that type of punishment. 


Eternity never ends.  And, only a crime against an eternal God is worthy of an eternal punishment.  Bin Laden doesn't deserve hell because of his terror-mongering ways.  He deserves it because He had a heart turned against God the Father.  His sin nature, not his sins are deserving of an eternal hell.  We're getting it all twisted up and placing the weight on his actions, which were devastating, and ultimately it was his heart that spurred that devastation.  


Hell never ends, and is worse than you can imagine.  You shouldn't want anyone to go there.  Let's not short change the horror of hell or the eternal consequences of our sin nature.  Bin Laden will be in a real hell for a real eternity and you could sadly as well if you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ.