Preaching the Inconvenient Truth of Hell
by Alex McFarland

Editor’s Note:  Alex McFarland has for six years been the Friday host of the national Christian call-in radio program “Truth Talk Live.”  He currently serves as Director of Teen Apologetics for Focus On The Family.  In August 2006, he will begin serving as the President of Southern Evangelical Seminary and the Veritas Graduate School of Religion, located near Charlotte, North Carolina.  He is also engaged in directing the acclaimed National Christian Apologetics Conference where he leads a list of presenters that includes Norman Geisler, Lee Strobel, Ravi Zacharias, Gary Habarmas, and Erwin Lutzer.  If you would like to learn more about the convention, we encourage you to visit the event website.

“But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”  (Luke 12:5, NIV)

“God is love, and the God I believe in would never send someone to hell!” The audience applauded enthusiastically as the TV talk-show host passionately stated her position about the

afterlife. A panel of guests had been assembled to explain various views about death, heaven, hell and God’s judgment. Of those authors and scholars, only one individual defended the biblical teaching about hell—an evangelical minister.  And as the show progressed, both audience and interviewer seemed increasingly hostile to the lone evangelical panelist.

The title of this article could be, “Divine Retribution:  Reconciling The Goodness of God with the reality of Hell.”  Twenty-first century people (even some evangelical Christian people) often shy away from acknowledging the reality of hell.  Yet, we find it in the Bible.  And we hear of it in the words of Christ.  Hell is real, and we are remiss if we do not proclaim that.

Surveys show that in the West, belief in a literal hell is at an all-time low, and its most vocal opponents include some clergy.  Scary, huh?  Not long ago, a survey of “born again Christians” by the Barna Research Group concluded that Christians are often ignorant about this matter of the faith. Even though 98 percent of those surveyed said that their Christian faith is very important in their life, some of the survey’s findings were discouraging. For example:

—Thirty-eight percent believe that if a person is generally good he can earn a place in heaven. (This contradicts the Bible, which says eternal life is “the gift of God;” see Romans 6:23, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-9.)

—Fifty percent said that Satan is “not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” (The Bible clearly identifies Satan as a living being, calling him “your enemy;” see 1 Peter 5:8.)

—Thirty-one percent of born again Christians agree with the statement “while He lived on earth, Jesus committed sins, like other people.”1 (The Bible says that Jesus was perfect; He never sinned; see Hebrews 4:14-15.)