Why would a loving God send people to hell?

The Bible says God does not want anyone to perish (Ezekiel 33:11, 2 Peter 3:9). It also says plainly that God will judge evil, and it presents judgment as people getting what they have persistently chosen (John 3:19, Romans 1:24). Christians agree on both points. They disagree about what final judgment is: endless punishment, final destruction, or a correction that ends in restoration.

What the text says

Where readers differ

The words it turns on

• שְׁאוֹל שְׁאוֹל (Sheol)

  The grave or the realm of the dead, where everyone goes, righteous and wicked alike (Genesis 37:35, where Jacob expects to go there). It is shadowy and silent but not a place of punishment as such.

  Drift: Older English Bibles often translate it "hell," which brings later ideas of fiery torment into texts that only mean death or the grave.

• ᾍδης ᾅδης (Hadēs)

  The Greek equivalent of Sheol, the realm of the dead. Luke 16:23 is the one passage that depicts torment there before the final judgment.

  Drift: Also translated "hell" in older versions. Revelation 20:14 has Hades itself thrown into the lake of fire, so the two cannot be the same thing.

• γέεννα γέεννα (Geenna, Gehenna)

  The Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, a place linked to child sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:31–32) and later used as an image of final judgment. Almost every use is from Jesus.

  Drift: "Hell" merges Gehenna with Sheol and Hades into one word, so readers lose the difference between the grave, the state of the dead, and final judgment.

• αἰώνιος αἰώνιος (aiōnios)

  "Of the age," i.e. belonging to the age to come; often lasting, perpetual or eternal.

  Drift: Usually translated "eternal." Scholars disagree over whether in judgment passages it stresses endless duration or the quality and origin of the age to come.

• κόλασις κόλασις (kolasis)

  Punishment. In earlier Greek it could mean correction or pruning, and by the first century it also meant penalty in general.

  Drift: The word itself does not settle whether the punishment is retributive, corrective or destructive.

• ἀπολλύω ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi)

  To destroy, ruin, lose, or perish.

  Drift: "Perish" in John 3:16 is read by some as ceasing to exist and by others as being ruined or lost.

• חֶ֫סֶד חֶסֶד (chesed)

  Steadfast, covenant loyalty: love that keeps its commitments (Exodus 34:6, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2).

  Drift: "Loving devotion" or "mercy" can sound like a feeling. In Hebrew it means faithfulness in action, and it appears in the same verse as justice, not in opposition to it.

What the Bible doesn't say

Key verses

1. Ezekiel 33:11

   Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

   God swears He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and pleads with them to turn and live.

2. John 3:19

   And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

   Describes the verdict as people preferring darkness to the light that came to them.

3. 2 Peter 3:9

   The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

   Explains the delay in judgment as patience, because God does not want anyone to perish.

4. Exodus 34:6

   Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

   The basic statement of God's character, holding loving devotion and justice in one sentence.

5. Matthew 25:41

   Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

   "Depart from Me"; the fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, not for humanity.

6. Romans 1:24

   Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

   God's wrath shown as giving people over to what they chose.

7. Matthew 23:37

   O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

   Jesus longed to gather people, but they were unwilling.

8. 1 John 4:10

   And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

   Defines love as God sending His Son to deal with sin.

9. Genesis 18:25

   Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

   The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, so judgment is never arbitrary.

10. Romans 2:6

    God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”

    Judgment follows deeds and takes account of the light each person had.

11. Matthew 10:28

    Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

    Jesus' warning about Gehenna, central to the debate over what final judgment is.

12. Jonah 4:2

    So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.

    A prophet complains that God is too merciful and relents from sending disaster.

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