The horror of hell is not physical pain. After all, the
Bible tells us hell was "prepared for the devil and his angels"
(Matt. 25:41), and they're not physical beings. Rather the fire and outer
darkness and the thirst depict spiritual separation from God, moral remorse,
the consciousness that one deserves what he's getting.
Hell is disintegration -- the eternal loss of being a real
person. In hell, the mathematician who lived for his science can't add two and
two. The concert pianist who worshiped himself through his art can't play a
simple scale. The man who lived for sex goes on in eternal lust, with nobody
to exploit. The woman who made a god out of fashion has a thousand dresses but
no mirror! Hell is eternal desire -- eternally unfulfilled.
But there's another side. G.K. Chesterton once remarked,
"Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the
dignity of human personality." Hell, a compliment? Yes, because God is
saying to us, "You are significant. I take you seriously. Choose to reject
me -- choose hell if you will. I will let you go."
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