CatholicView:  .

How can a loving, merciful Creator send one of His creations to an eternity in everlasting flame and suffering? 
I could never do that for a child of mine.  Maybe a spanking or some temporary punishment but for all eternity?  
How can I love and respect such
a God?  - Jhea

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Jhea: 

God sends no one to hell for all eternity.  On the contrary, we send ourselves by the decisions we make and
the destiny we FREELY chose.  If someone doesn't want God in their lives, God respects that decision.  If a
person wants God in their lives, then all possibilities and heaven itself is open.  So your question is placing
blame on God when in fact the blame of someone in hell is directly on them.  God cannot make someone love
Him.  If a person doesn't want God, then that's their decision for all eternity. 

That's what free will and self-determination is all about.

You ask "How can a loving, merciful God send His precious souls to an everlasting Hell"?  I must tell you that
during our lives, and through the Free Will that God has bestowed on us, we have the great opportunity to be
obedient to the Lord and what He tells us, but many follow their own sinful paths. Those who do believe in the
Lord through free will know that through the blood of Jesus Christ, He has already paid the price of everlasting
life when He died on the Cross as sinful souls jeered and laughed at our Lord, Jesus Christ when He was nailed
to that cross.

God sent Jesus Christ, His Son to die for you and all of us.  Why?  To let us know that we are loved.  Jesus
came down from Heaven to pay with His life for you and I and yes, for all of us.  He taught us all about eternal
life and if we accepted and believed, we would be saved and will live forever.  Keep in mind, one day He will
come back to us, and if we have followed God's teachings, we will enter our everlasting "home" and live forever
with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Imagine this…Forever!

God does not deny us.  All of us are sinners and yes, we are not perfect, but He still wants us on the road to
eternal life.  He loves you and all of us. Why?  He cared for us so much that He gives us time and time again to
change from sin and become believers.  Yes, He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on a cross for us. 
If we deny God and Jesus and refuse to follow God's path, we will spend our lives in hell forever more.

Would God forgive us for our sins while on earth?  Yes, He does.  And He sends the Holy Spirit to remind us of
those sins. {God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit}.  

If we accept His teachings, we will be saved.  If we sin, we must pray, asking God for His forgiveness.  And
when we do, God, Who loves us so much, will forgive us, and say with that love, "I forgive you and that for-
giveness will be forgotten…as far as the East is from the West.

"Matthew 25:31-46 reads:  "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will
sit on His glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one
from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on His right and the
goats on His left.  "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
take your inheritance, enter the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry
and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and You gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison
and you came to visit Me.'  "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'LORD, when did we see you hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in,
or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'  "Jesus will
reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did
for Me.'  "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and
you gave Me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did
not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.'  "They also will answer, 'LORD, when
did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'  
"He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.'  
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." 

Our Loving Father is there for you and I, and all of us.  Without Him, we are nothing.  Think about that precious
love.  -   CatholicView Staff