PAUL TOLD TITUS that Christians are to avoid contention and foolish questions. We should be at peace with all men if possible. However:

The question as to whether God will torture some people forever is not a foolish question. The Bible and Christ's example show us a longsuffering, merciful, and just God, unlike "Allah" whose sadistic acolytes behead "infidels" and punish women for not keeping their heads covered.

Abraham Lincoln said that he did not, and could not believe in a God Who will make people suffer forever (The Religion of Abraham Lincoln by William Wolf), and He got his theology straight from the Bible, unfiltered through the lenses of "theologians." Put me down as agreeing with honest Abe, based on scripture.

Solid doctrines are those which are the most consistent with both the Word and logic. The main scriptural answer to the "ever burning hell" myth comes from the book of Jude, sometimes called "the sermon notes of Enoch, the seventh from Adam" (Jude and James were siblings of Christ):

"There are certain men crept in unawares, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. Likewise filthy dreamers who despise dominion and speak evil of dignitaries. Woe unto them, for they have gone the way of Cain and Balaam for money, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."

If there were an ever burning hellfire, it wouldn't be dark and certainly not black. Keep it simple silly.

There is eternal (final) punish-MENT, separation from God, but not eternal punish-ING. That would have been hell for the saved – thinking of unsaved loved ones burning forever in hell. Besides, fire burns UP and fire burns OUT when it runs out of fuel (dead bodies). The wages of sin is death – not eternal life – in hell! Keep it simple!

There is nothing good about the theory that people will be tormented forever for dissing God. He is a zealous God but not a sadist or a masochist. If you think you can scare people into heaven, think again. That only turns people off. It's counter-productive AND a flat out lie.

P.S. A related topic: The world's uncalled, and the uninformed, those who never even heard the Gospel of the Kingdom, are "the rest of the dead" who won't live again for a thousand years (Revelation 20). There is also a prophesied "second resurrection" and a "second death" for the incorrigibles.

PPS: A few words more attributed to Enoch:

"Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all [judgment begins at the House of God], and to convict all who are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed."

In other words, we can't be saved by our "works," but can be condemned for our deeds. Is that crystal clear?