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MyPrayerTower
ApologeticsNovember 5, 2025

Hell — How a Loving God Can Send People There

C.S. Lewis said: 'The doors of hell are locked on the inside.' Hell is not God's torture chamber; it is His respect for human freedom.

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MyPrayerTower Team
6 min read Spiritual Study

The most common objection to Christianity: "I can't believe in a God who sends people to burn forever."

The Locked Door

The Church teaches that God sends no one to hell. People send themselves. Hell is the definitive self-exclusion from communion with God. If you spend your whole life saying to God, "Leave me alone, I don't want your rules, I don't want your mercy," — at death, God respects your choice. He says: "Thy will be done."

Why Fire?

The "fire" of hell might be the Love of God.

  • To a soul that loves God, His presence is warmth and light (Heaven).
  • To a soul that hates God, His presence is burning and torture (Hell). It is the same Fire, experienced differently.

Is It Empty?

We hope so (Hans Urs von Balthasar). But Jesus warns us repeatedly about "wailing and gnashing of teeth." We cannot presume everyone is saved. That is the sin of presumption.


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