Two Views of Hell

My acquaintance with a Jehovah's Witness has rekindled my interest in the two views of hell.  I found that my friend and I agree on one thing, that we don't believe in eternal torment.  Death is the punishment for sins  - not eternal torment. A second death in the "Lake of Fire", which is eternally final, will take place "at the end of the age".

My own debate on this subject began when I read the Intervarsity Press book Two Views of Hell, which I purchased at Urbana Missions Conference, which I think was in 2003.

But mostly, I haven't emotionally grasped why a loving God would torment his Creation in Hell.  Especially if you believe in predestination, which I tend to not believe in, then it is especially disturbing to think that God predestined people to be tortured.

My friend Jeremy wrote an article on the subject, which is very long, but I plan on reading sometime  http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/eternal.php.

However, the Jehovah's Witness does not believe in eternal life either, and I have definitely disagreed with him strongly on that.  The Bible is clear that all who believe in the Son go to heaven, not just the 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation. But it has been busy lately at work, so I haven't had time to pursue these subjects with him.