“You deserve hell,” Christianity proclaims.
Really? What the hell?
It’s said so matter-of-factly, as if someone were commenting on the weather: “Looks like rain today. By the way, you deserve to burn forever.”
Do they even think about what they’re saying? Do they hear the absurdity of the claim? Let’s break it down: Just by existing, I deserve to be tortured forever in a chamber of horrors beyond anything the human mind can imagine? Simply because I was born?
I call “bullshit.” A big pile of stinky, steamy bullshit.
What kind of God would do that? We wrestle with why God allows suffering here on Earth, and yet so many Christians are perfectly okay with Him exposing billions of people – His own creation – to eternal torture just because they didn’t say the right words or believe the right thing at the right time.
Let’s not dance around it: this teaching is garbage. It’s a lie, invented by Christianity, and it’s been used for centuries to manipulate, control and scare people into submission.
THE CASUAL LIE
You see it everywhere: in sermons, articles, social media posts, Sunday School lessons. It’s drilled into your head from the moment you hit the so-called “age of accountability.”
Boom. You’re twelve years old, and suddenly you’re accountable to God. One day, you’re an innocent child, and the next, you’re a walking target for hell. You’d better “get saved” quick because in the interim – between learning you’re accountable and praying the sinner’s prayer – you’re walking a dangerous line. Slip up, die before you repent, and it’s eternal torture for you.
Really? What kind of God operates like that?
What has a twelve-year-old done to deserve hell? Hit his sister? Snuck a piece of candy from the store? Lied about cleaning his room? And this warrants infinite punishment?
“Oh, but he has a sinful nature,” they’ll say. Newsflash: he didn’t ask for that. He was born into it, according to their own doctrine. And even that doctrine doesn’t hold water.
THE SINFUL NATURE LIE
The so-called “sinful nature” is a lie. The Bible says Adam’s sin brought death (Romans 5:12), not eternal torture. Death is the absence of life, not life in perpetual torment. Christianity has twisted this simple truth into a fear-based marketing campaign: “Join our club or burn forever,”
The idea of a “sinful nature” is one of Christianity’s biggest scams. They use it to keep you feeling guilty, broken, and dependent on the church to fix you.
Here’s the truth: You’re not broken, you’re not evil – you’re human.
The Bible doesn’t say you are born wicked; it says you’re born mortal. “Flesh” (Greek, sarx) doesn’t mean “sinful nature.” It means you’re human, subject to death and frailty.
Christianity took that and twisted it into a narrative of total depravity. Why? Because if they can convince you that you’re fundamentally flawed, they can convince you that you need them to save you.
THE MYTH OF FREE WILL
Another tool in their arsenal is the myth of “free will.” They’ll say, “You chose to sin, so you deserve the consequences.” But did you really choose?
If you’re born with a so-called “sinful nature,” predisposed to sin, and placed in a world where sin is inevitable, how is that a choice? It’s like being shoved into a pit and then told it’s your fault you fell.
Romans 11:32 says, ”For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” Let that sink in. God Himself wrote disobedience into our story. He made failure an integral part of our lives – not to condemn us, but to display His mercy and glory.
So, let me ask: If God set us up to fail, how could He torture us forever for something that was part of His plan all along? It’s His story, His design, not ours. The idea that God would condemn us to eternal torment for being exactly what He created us to be – human, imperfect, prone to sin – is absurd.
Also let’s not forget that they also preach that God is sovereign and in control of everything. So, which is it? Do we have ”free will,” or is God pulling all the strings? You can’t have it both ways.
GOD IS BETTER THAN THIS
Here’s the bottom line: the doctrine of hell and the idea that you deserve it is not about God. It’s about control. It’s about keeping people in fear so that they never question the system.
The truth is, God is love – real love – and love doesn’t threaten eternal torment. Love doesn’t manipulate. Love doesn’t say, “Do what I say, or I’ll burn you forever.”
The idea that you deserve hell is a lie – always has been, always will be. God isn’t a monster. God isn’t a torturer. God is love.
It’s time to reject the lie and embrace the truth. You don’t deserve hell. You never did, and you never will.
Live free.
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Originally published in Bible Student’s Notebook