This assumes the souls of the dead retain their earthly forms in a status recognizable by the conscious mind, also assuming the conscious mind moves on from this sphere.

Tagging. Jay threads don't disappoint

You need to understand the Western Christian view on salvation, damnation and so on to have it make sense.  So long as you hold the Anslem view of sin as being an infinite offense to an infinite God, then hell makes sense.  There are other possible explanations:

* Hell is eventual annihilation.  In short, it is what atheists hold, a permanent fading into non-existence.  The jist of the Bible is Hell is a garbage dump and the final point of rejection, whatever that may be.

* Hell is a place where people are kept out but could repent, but won't do it.  In short, they would rather stay out there, than come into the presense of God.

* Heaven would be hell for some.  Some hold that this is a state of individuals who don't like the light but have to stay in it.  This is hell to them.

* Understanding than infinite God can subject people to an infinite hell and it be just and loving or whatever is a riddle that opens up increased insights once figured out.

* There is a purgatory/universalist view that doesn't hold people would be in Hell forever.

One could go on different ways here, but is fairly pointless unless one is going to end up having it go somewhere.  Having acceptance of Christian hell without anything else is really, really pointless.

I would also suggest looking at Revelations that has the final hell as all that which is outside of the fusion of heaven and earth.  It is what is on the outside of this fusion.   Anyhow, no matter what I write, it is pointless without the Christian context for the rest.  Without love of God, any discussion of hell is futile.

Surprised this thread isn't more popular.

It is a subject atheists/secularists don't believe is necessary and it is one that Christian believers likely don''t feel comfortable talking about or able to respond to.  They do know the purpose of an eternal Hell at all, so they can't respond.  It is almost like it works only as a personal persuasion tool to get people to sign up to Christianity (believe in it), that has people glad they aren't going, but then don't feel comfortable talking about.

In light of this, you aren't going to get many to chime in.

"Now, posts like this aren't constructive."

He asked what was the purpose of hell and I said why, it was something that someone came up with in an attempt that it'd stop people from doing wrong, it's just to scare people off from it.

You be good you go to heaven and if you be bad you go to hell, it's exactly the same as parents telling kids if they be good Santa will vist and if you're naughty he wont.

Except for some reason people actually thing the heaven and hell concept is real when it's no more real than Santa.

How do you know?

It keeps the price of real estate in heaven from going through the roof.

The thing now is that, the main why the traditional views of Hell float about are preached by indiividuals who preach the idea of doing good vs doing bad.  Such indifiduals are post-Reformation Protestants who argue that no one is good, everyone should go to Hell, and no amount of good deeds one does will fix this.  And they preach faith in Jesus alone.  They are not preaching heaven and hell as scare tactics to get certain behavior. Now, ne can argue during the indulgences period of Catholic Europe (Luther's time period) such was prevalent, but not today.  There is maybe a normal arguing that maybe one hopes they were sincerely trying to be good enough, and God would respect them enough to let them in heaven, but it really isn't much about Hell at all.  So, the emotional ire and so on at the concept really isn't at the mainstream view.

"How do you know?"

Because I'm not a naive 5 year old.