Does Hell exist?

What do you think?

American church historian Martin Marty wrote: "Hell has disappeared. And no one noticed."

“For liberal Protestants," writes Webster, "hell began to fade in the nineteenth century along with Calvinism's stern and predestining God. Today hell is theology's H-word, a subject too trite for serious scholarship. One survey of evangelical seminary students revealed that:

“Nearly half - 46 percent - felt preaching about hell to unbelievers is in poor taste.

“Worse yet, three out of every ten self-professed born again people surveyed believe good people will go to heaven when they die - even if they've never followed Christ.

“One in every ten evangelicals say they believe the concept of sin is outmoded.”

Only 59 percent of Americans believe in hell, compared with 74 percent who believe in heaven, according to surveys from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Research from Barna Associates shows that only 32 percent of adults see hell as "an actual place of torment and suffering where people's souls go after death."

Fear of hell

When Jerry Newcombe, the host of Truth that Transforms with D. James Kennedy, suggested on a broadcast that the massacre of innocent spectators at a Colorado theater happened because America has lost its fear of hell, media reaction was swift and ugly.

“The Huffington Post expressed disdain because Newcombe dared to turn the tragedy into an ‘opportunity for people to convert to Christianity and avoid the fate of hell,’” notes Chismar. Clay Farris Naff — a science writer and author — wrote: “What I find utterly revolting and indecent is the rush by the Religious Right to exploit this tragedy to trash their enemies, judge the victims, and bully people into joining their religious and political movement.”