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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've always wondered about this.

It can't be rehabilitation, unless hell is temporary or the purpose is to make people regret their actions except they will still be suffering forever.

It could be deterrence if people who are living decide to make choices to avoid punishment. The threat of not going to heaven also allows for deterrence, though.

It could be incapacitation, but hell is unnecessary for that purpose if people are dead.

In the Bible or Quran, is there any information about the purpose of hell? [/quote]

OP, I will attempt to answer this as an evangelical Christian - but just a lay person, not a minister of any kind. "Hell" in the Christian concept is defined as separation from God. This can be both physical and spiritual. From your question, it sounds as though you may believe that God created Hell for a specific purpose, but that is not the Christian understanding. Man created Hell because he refused reconciliation with God. So the word "purpose" in your question makes it difficult to answer - it's more like Hell is the result of man turning from God.

Does that make sense?

[/quote]

Thank you for this answer.

My question is: why doesn't God choose to show Himself so that everyone will know for certain that He exists and that we have the possibility of reconciliation with Him? And why doesn't God simply annihilate everyone who dies without reconciling with Him rather than sending them to an afterlife or allow people the opportunity to reconcile with Him once they perceive His existence after death? [/quote]

Good point re hell -- even if man created hell, God, being God, could get rid of it, if he wanted to, which apparently, he doesn't.

But re God "showing" himself -that would negate the need for faith, which seems to be a big deal for God -- , i.e., believing in him despite that fact that he does not show himself and in fact sometimes really seems quite convincingly not to be around - e.g., when really bad things happen to people who believe in him.

But another way to look at it, is: "Who the hell are YOU to dictate how God should be!"  He's God, after all -- he can do what he wants.[/quote]

That is rude and irrational.[/quote]

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