A Loving God Would Not Send Billions of People to Hell, Would He?

一位慈爱的天主是不应该把数以万计的人送入地狱的，

他会吗？
by Rich Deem

Introduction 简介

Atheists often claim that Christianity could not be true because a loving God¹ would not send billions of people to hell.² Although this seems logically valid at first glance, it makes some assumptions that are not true for the God of the Bible. Many atheists claim that those who have never heard of Jesus Christ should not be forced to go to hell. This issue is dealt with in depth on another page.

无神论者经常宣称基督宗教是错误的因为一位慈爱的天主是不能把数以万计的人送入地狱的。虽然这种观点乍一看逻辑而且正确，但是此论断与圣经当中的天主是不一样的。很多无神论者宣称那些从没有听说过耶稣基督的人不应该被送入地狱。关于这个问题参见下一篇。

True love is not permissive 真正的爱不是放纵的

The first false assumption is that love allows the object of that love to do whatever he or she wants. However, this permissive kind of "love" isn't really love at all. Any of you who are parents will recognize that allowing your children to do whatever they want to do is not loving at all. If you were to do this, your children would grow up to be spoiled selfish brats, incapable of loving other people. Permissive gods, who are caught up in their own intrigues, and so allow humans to do whatever they want without repercussions, are found in the pagan religions. However, the God of the Bible wants us to love Him and other people above everything else we do.³

第一处错误的论断就是，爱允许被爱者做任何想做的事。但是，这种过度纵容的“爱”并不是真正的爱。你们当中身为父母的应该知道放纵孩子，让他们做想做的一切根本不叫爱他们。倘若你真的这样做了，那么你的孩子也许会成长为过度溺爱下自私自利的问题少年，而且不懂得爱别人。放纵人类的神的背后是有阴谋的，所以他们允许人类不考虑任何后果的情况下胡作非为，这些神经常出现在异端迷信中。但是，圣经当中的天主希望我们爱他在万有之上并爱人如爱己。

God's moral laws have a purpose 天主的道德法律是有目的的

The Creator God of the universe is obviously a God of order. The laws that govern the physical universe are so precise that we can calculate the positions of planets, stars, and galaxies thousands to millions of years into the future. Would a God of this kind of precision design moral laws that are random or changing? It doesn't seem likely or consistent with the character of the Creator that we know from the reality of the creation. Therefore, it seems likely that unchanging moral laws are consistent with the God of creation. The Bible says that the moral laws are consistent with the character of God.⁴ Therefore, the main purpose of the moral laws are to teach us what God requires for us to enter into His kingdom. The moral laws also allow us to live with each other on earth without hurting each other. In fact, if we all perfectly fulfilled the moral laws of God, we would be in perfect harmony with each other. Our failure to fulfill God's moral laws leads us to seek Him as the source of our salvation.

宇宙万物造物主很显然是一位有规律和条理的神。宇宙当中的法则精确到我们可以计算出来未来千百万年后行星，恒星，星系的具体位置。这样一位有着如此精确设计的神怎么可能设计出一套随机而变毫无规律的道德律法呢？根据我们观察到他创造的东西来看，这完全与我们的神的性格相矛盾。圣经说道德法律是与我们的天主的性格相一致的。所以，这个道德法律的制定的目的就是让我们知道天主需要我们做些什么来进入天国。道德法律也让我们能够在世界上与其他人和睦相处，避免争端。事实上，如果我们完全地做到了天主的律法，我们真的可以与别人达到完美的和睦和谐。正由于我们无法做到天主的每条律法，所以我们需要寻求他做我们的救赎。

God's creation of free will beings must allow for the possibility of rejecting God completely天主所创造的有自由意志的生命体必定有完全否定天主的可能性。

Since God created spiritual beings for the purpose of expressing love, those beings must have complete free will in order to express that love. Of course, free will allows for the possibility of those beings rejecting God and His plans. Unfortunately, most people do not agree that God's rules are good and do not want to live by them. In fact, the vast majority of people want to run their own lives without submitting to God at all. Somehow, they feel that God will just let them into heaven because they have behaved about as good, and maybe even better, compared to the rest of the people on earth. The problem with this idea is that God does not grade on the curve. All who enter God's kingdom must be absolutely holy, since no sin is allowed in God's presence. In addition, people must be willing to allow God to prevent them from sinning ever again, since there is no sin in heaven. This means that people must be willing to submit fully to God's will in order to get into heaven. Of course, all humans fall short of God's moral requirements. Therefore, God has made a provision to erase all sins that we have committed in this life and to perfect us so that we cannot sin in the next life. That provision for sin is through the sacrifice of God's son, Jesus Christ. Jesus took the punishment that we deserve and gives us the reward that we do not deserve - eternal life. In accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, all our sins are erased, and Jesus works to change us into His image (if we allow Him to do so).

因为天主创造了有灵的生命体目的是为了表达爱，那些生命体必须有自由的意志来表达这种爱。当然，由于自由意志，这些生命体可能性否定拒绝天主和他的工程。不幸的是，大多数的人不愿意承认天主的律法是对的，不愿意按照他的法律来生活。事实上，大多数的人希望不听从天主而完全按照自己的意愿生活。他们或多或少存在一种侥幸心理：天主也许正好会让他们进入天堂因为他们做的比起世界上的其他人已经很好了，甚至更好。问题是，天主不会根据统计曲线来审判。所有进入天国的人必须完全圣洁，因为只要天主在场，罪是容不下的。补充一点，人类还应必须愿意让天主帮助他们避免再次犯罪，因为在天堂上是没有罪的。也就是说，人们必须愿意完全听从天主以便能够进入天堂。当然，所有人离天主的要求都相差甚远。所以，天主提供给我们救赎，以便抹去我们在世界上的所有罪恶，今后在天堂上也不会再犯罪。这种赎罪祭就是通过天主子耶稣基督的牺牲达到的。耶稣承担了我们应得的惩罚，并且赏赐了我们不配有的永生。我们接受耶稣基督为我们的救主，这样我们过去的罪过就免除了，并且耶稣的功劳帮助我们改变自己，和他一样（前提是我们允许他在我们身上这么做）

People prefer hell over complete submission to God

比起完全听从天主，人们更喜欢地狱。

So why doesn't God make everyone into perfect beings and allow them all into heaven? It would actually be more cruel if God were to do this, since many people prefer hell to the alternative (complete submission to God). All the people who end up going to hell will have done so because they actually prefer hell to being forced into the presence of God for all eternity. People like to live in their favorite sins and answer to no one else. They know that if they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior that God will want them to change their lives and they might have to give up some of their autonomy.

那么为什么天主不让所有人都变成完美的以便今后都能进入天国呢？其实上，这样做天主会更残忍，因为很多人（比起完全听天主话），他们更喜欢最后下地狱。所有最终下地狱的人这么做完全是出于喜欢地狱胜于那种在天主律法束缚下的永生。人们喜欢胡作非为，放纵自己，不听劝导。他们认为，如果接受耶稣基督为救主，天主就会让他们改变自己的生活且放弃一些他们的自治权。

Conclusion 结论

At this time in history, there is more evidence demonstrating the existence of God than at any time in the past. Much of that evidence is presented on this site.（http://www.godandscience.org）In addition, there are missionaries throughout the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He offers as a free gift. Although the gift is "free," it will cost you your sin, selfishness, and pride. Since none of these character traits are allowed into heaven, those who insist upon holding onto these traits cannot enter into heaven, but must be separated from God in a place called hell. Therefore, those who go to hell do so voluntarily, preferring hell to complete submission to a holy and just God.

在现今，越来越多的证据表明天主的存在。很多证据在这个网站可以找到http://www.godandscience.org。补充一点，现在也有很多传教者传讲耶稣基督的好消息，说他的救赎是一个免费的礼物。虽然礼物是“免费的”，它还是有代价的，就是你要避免犯罪，自私和骄傲。因为这些缺点都会阻止你进入天国，那些坚持这些缺点的人将不会进入天国，注定要与天主分开，进入地狱。所以，那些下地狱的人都是自愿的，比起对神圣公义的天主的服从，他们更喜欢地狱这个地方。

                                                                 Danielle