Does “the perfect justice of God” DEMAND an ever-burning hell and eternal punishing of the lost?
Some theologians declare that the “justice of God” demands eternal punishing–even eternal torture of the most vicious kind–of the souls of those who have sinned in their physical life and not come under the blood of Jesus for forgiveness of those sins. If someone protests that such an unlimited punishing for a limited life-time of sin doesn’t seem “fair,” the answer given is that God has no obligation to be “fair” by human standards. That is absolutely true. His ways are not our ways. However, it is perhaps reasonable to think that God would be “just” and “fair” by His own standards. The standards of justice, and righteous punishment, given by God himself in the Law of Israel handed down through Moses, should provide us with some insight into His ultimate standards of justice. What do we find in the Law of the Old Testament? 1. Punishment fit the crime‑-“an eye for an eye.” (Deuteronomy 19:16-21) 2. The punishment for such crimes as theft was restitution, with an extra financial pena
