Defending Hell, Part 1: The Question of Hell

Francis Chan speaks about Hell

Earlier today I got an e-mail from the pastor that I work under, pointing me to this video. Initially I thought, "Alright, this is probably important--I'll get around to watching it sometime today." However, when I actually began to watch it, this fact began to sink in: people are trying to convince other people that hell is not a real place. What does the Bible really say about this, though, and what happens if the people who teach against the reality of hell are wrong?

As I watched this video, something occurred to me: this video addresses the topic of hell, but not as a straightforward approach, such as "Hell is real, and the Bible teaches it--even Jesus taught about it!" Hardly; instead, this video is an apologetic defending the validity of the topic of hell.

Francis Chan spends some of his time emphasizing the importance of hell; as one of his points, hell is not a doctrine. It is a place--a place to which some people are condemned. To address hell as an abstract concept is about as wise as talking about heaven in such a manner. Would you want your family to be comforted by the fact that your dead relative is happily living in an abstract paradise for eternity?...No. I know I wouldn't. For that same reason, none of us should be satisfied with speaking of hell as an abstract reality, almost as if it didn't really exist. Hell is real, and the Bible speaks frequently about it in the New Testament.