Does the fear of Hell make the world a better place

[Freddy]

I’ll admit it.

I was hoping for something a little more detailed (not necessarily too personal). But my next point in any case would be: Didn’t you know it was wrong anyway?

The original question perhaps should have included that. That is, was there anything you did that only the threat of hell kept you from doing it? Let’s look at the options:

This is wrong so I won’t do it: This is what everyone thinks when they try to do the right thing.

This is wrong so I won’t do it - and I would have gone to hell if I had: This is what Christians tell me. But the second clause is meaningless as it would never arise.

This is wrong and I would have done it but I’d go to hell if I did…so I won’t.

It’s the third option that makes hell a viable deterrent. But I don’t believe anyone takes that option. Because there’s a corollary to the question: Hands up all those who think they’ll end up in hell.

My position is that if anyone had the slightest fear of ending up in hell then they wouldn’t be able to function normally. I’ve never met anyone remotely like that. Therefore I can only conclude that no-one actually takes it seriously - from a personal viewpoint.

 

[Dolphin]

Might just be me but I tend to think serial killers and those who commit sexual assault aren’t thinking about the possibility of hell as they commit actions. Everyone sins everyday in small ways as well.

Meaning - the threat of hell hasn’t stopped sin (because nobody is perfect and temptation exists). Rather we should ask, if hell didn’t exist, what stops total chaos from happening? Why wouldn’t theft and murder be everyday practices? Why not get whatever you want whenever you want it? The closest thing would be going to prison but instant gratification would still overcome that.

So, perhaps the threat of hell stops mass chaos from happening because some people take the threat seriously enough to not commit extreme evils (so that these evils became commonplace). But in the end, sin will always exist and you can’t really quantify sin (at least not in a linear human fashion) so if sin happens either way, what does that tell us?

I think the real answer here is - the threat of hell isnt enough to stop sin. What matters is flipping the argument in the positive direction. The hope of heaven does more good for the world than the threat of hell stopping bad in the world.

Put differently - it is easier and more common to do something good for a reward (in this case heaven) than to not do something bad and thus avoid punishment (in this case hell)

 

[Freddy]

Rather we should ask, if hell didn’t exist, what stops total chaos from happening? Why wouldn’t theft and murder be everyday practices? Why not get whatever you want whenever you want it? The closest thing would be going to prison but instant gratification would still overcome that.

Please don’t tell me that you have no idea. Please tell me that you could come up with some explanation. I’m pretty certain that my grandson could come up with a reasonable answer if I asked him why he shouldn’t take all the toys from the other kids whenever he wanted to.

He’s eight. I’m sure you could do equally as well.

 

[Dolphin]

I mean the rest of my post stated my view… so no need to repeat myself. Have you read it all?

 

[Freddy]

I mean the rest of my post stated my view… so no need to repeat myself. Have you read it all?

The same question applies. It’s the other side of the same coin: if heaven didn’t exist, then what’s to prevent chaos etc.

 

[CelticWarlord]

While fear can be a prime motivator, like when we were kids and mom threatened dire punishment if we did such and such… it is in our adult, spiritually oriented life also capable of completely decimating the sense of love and oneness which unites us with God. There is no greater barrier between human and divine than guilt, and guilt easily outpaces love when fear is the prime motivation for obedience. So I must answer your original question with an “I really don’t think so”.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

More when I was younger, when my faith walk was that of a “child”, before I knew much about apologetics, fear of Hell was a motivating factor.

As time went on and I grew in the faith and matured, I made the conscious decision to fix my attention more on the greater good than out of fear.

But I’m not sure that having a pure motive all the time is possible in this life. We’re played on by all sorts of forces (sometimes that we aren’t fully aware of), and that’s okay. There’s always room to grow.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

The world would be a much better place if everybody feared hell as a punishment for bad deeds here in this life. We’ve discussed this back and forth here in the forums, but I don’t think the average person in the contemporary, affluent West gives hell a second thought.

Even in Catholic circles, people no longer like to speak of “mortal” sin, substituting the word “grave”, and then people go nuts and start accusing one of “judging” if anyone calls attention to their (or anyone else’s) lifestyle being incompatible with salvation. This is especially true when the sin in question is one which many people have agreed is either no sin, a mere peccadillo, or one where many commit it in “ignorance” or through “poor catechesis”. And if the majority have agreed not to worry about a sin — maybe because so many people commit it? — then end of story, it becomes the elephant in the parlor that people don’t want to hear brought up.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Rather we should ask, if hell didn’t exist, what stops total chaos from happening? Why wouldn’t theft and murder be everyday practices?

Exactly. That is the idea behind Nietzsche nihilism, he was arguably the most famous atheist.

 

[oliver109]

what stops total chaos from happening?

The belief in Heaven and God’s commandments to improve the earth are the biggest motivator, the biggest problem in America and Europe today is the belief of Humanism where people lack a reason to be good, to stop being selfish and as a result we see disharmonious societies full of racism, lacking compassion on the poor and a general dog eat dog mentality. "if we our earthly lives don’t matter after we die why bother to live morally?

 

[christismylord]

what causes a person to do good acts, it is the grace of God working in them

Perhaps the fear of Hell (separation from God/God’s anger/eternal pain and punishment) is a grace of God to help keep us in line? And so we will cling to Him more and cherish His love and salvation He bought for us. But this grace would be secondary to the grace of pure love of God, which drives out fear, and is perfect. Either way, not committing sin requires God’s grace (?) because inherently, since the Fall, we are separated from God and goodness. So anything that helps us do so is grace (?) because God works all things out for good for those who are His, even using things inherently bad (like Hell.)