Could a loving God send anyone to hell?

God is indeed a loving Parent, and He would never send one of his children to hell. However, He has endowed each human being with many gifts, among them, a free will. He did not choose to create a race of puppets. He wanted us to be able to freely choose to return His love.

Every day we make many choices. Some are good, as when we spend time helping someone with a problem. Some are bad, as when we make an unkind remark to a friend or spouse. Some are neutral, as when we choose to have cereal rather than toast for breakfast.

Occasionally, we may make a very bad choice, as when we decide to commit murder, adultery, lie under oath, or knowingly and willingly commit any serious sin against the Ten Commandments. We know it's wrong, we know it's a serious matter, and we choose to do it anyway. In effect, we say, "No!" to God. "I'm going to do what I want, not what You want."

To those who have not had the advantage of a religious upbringing, God has given an inner guide, known as a conscience. Even the most isolated tribes on the planet understand that it's wrong to kill another human, or to steal from a neighbor. In the same measure that they recognize the wrongness of their action, by the same measure they are rejecting the Ultimate Good which we call God.

Some people spend a lifetime making very bad choices. Serial killers, gangsters, drug pushers, child abusers, among others, spring immediately to mind. They never have feelings of remorse, never express sorrow, never ask forgiveness nor try to amend their lives. When they die they will go to hell. Did God send them there? Of course not. They chose their eternal destination of their own free will.

One word of warning: we can never say for sure that anyone is in hell, no matter how bad a life he or she led. If that person, even on their deathbed, made a silent, last-minute prayer of repentance, and asked God's forgiveness, they may be in heaven. Remember the Bible story of the good thief on Calvary? (Luke 23: 39-43)

God is indeed a loving God. He has given us many gifts; life, intellect, free will, friends, family, the whole world to enjoy and care for. When we sin, we have until the minute we breathe our final breath to tell Him we're sorry. Like the father in the "Parable of the Prodigal Son", He waits anxiously for us to return home to Him. If we end up in hell instead, it's entirely through our own choice.