Why Doesn’t God Give Adequate Warning to Unbelievers About Hell?

Question: If there is a danger, someone who loves me and cares about me will advise me of the danger. For example, if there is a big deep hole in the street, someone who loves me will put a sign before the deep hole writing “danger: pay attention never walk near it otherwise you will fall inside”. Hell is very horrible, but it seems that God does not properly warn us of this danger. Millions of people of different religions in the past or present times never heard about the existence of this horrible place. Even many Christians have a very poor understanding of hell….for example many are annihilationists… other Christians wonder if the fire is literal or metaphoric…The problem is that God has not warned us in clearly and unambiguous and precise terms about this danger. It seems that millions of people are tricked into hell…they go to hell by surprise.

Answer: There is a concept of hell in many cultures and religions, so it doesn’t seem that the idea of a place of punishment in the afterlife is any surprise. But even if it was, Scripture makes clear that everyone knows about God and His wrath toward rebellion:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18–20, ESV)

As much as we want to erase the knowledge of God and His wrath from our consciousness, deep down we know it is the truth. No one will be surprised by their fate. God has built the warning about the “manhole” into every person. Does it matter whether the punishment is annihilation, eternal torment, or remediation? Certainly it could, but if my real problem is believing in God, knowing the exact nature of the punishment seems rather secondary, in fact, unimportant. If I don’t believe in God, why would I believe in hell. Humankind’s problem is not knowing how awful the punishment is going to be, it is being willing to submit to our Creator at all.

[for further study:

Will People Have as an Excuse Before God at the Judgment That He Did Not Open Their Minds to Their Sins? | Ask the Pastors (wordpress.com)

Daily Thoughts from Romans: God’s Present Wrath – A Thimble-full of Theology for Daily Living]