The historic doctrine of Hell is “under fire” (no pun intended) by both unbelievers and unfortunately a disturbing and increasing number of believers. Brian Recker is a self-proclaimed former evangelical pastor who walked away from his faith, church and marriage and concluded that Hell is a myth. He still claims to be a “theologian” espousing “inclusive spirituality.” His book HellBent portrays Hell as a myth and is enormously popular on Amazon with 5 star reviews across the board. He seems to have made a cottage industry out of refuting Hell.

Rob Bell denied Hell with his controversial book Love Wins. John MacArthur wrote, “Rob Bell’s denial of eternal punishment goes hand in hand with a warped view of the gospel. No wonder. Each error fuels and exacerbates the other. Eliminate every hint of punishment for sin; ignore the wrath of an offended deity; dismiss the demands of divine justice, and you abolish any need for the gospel. The only hell that exists in Bell’s theology is a state of mind or an earthly experience of suffering that Bell says God wants eliminated. But it’s up to us to live rightly in order to end whatever hell on earth we might suffer. By living the right way we can exchange our earthly hell for a strikingly earthbound sort of heaven.” MacArthur goes on to quote Bell at length.

MacArthur also wrote here on the Disappearance of Hell,

“According to recent polls, some 81 percent of adult Americans believe in heaven, and fully 80 percent expect to go there when they die. By comparison, about 61 percent believe in hell, but less than 1 percent think it’s likely they will go there. In other words, a slight majority of Americans still believe hell exists, but genuine fear of hell is almost nonexistent.

Even the most conservative evangelicals don’t seem to take hell very seriously anymore. For decades, many evangelicals have downplayed inconvenient biblical truths, neglecting any theme that seems to require somber reflection. Doctrines such as human depravity, divine wrath, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the reality of eternal judgment have disappeared from the evangelical message.

The trend has not escaped everyone’s attention. Thirty years ago, for example, Martin Marty, religious historian, professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and critic of all things evangelical, delivered the Ingersoll Lecture on Immortality at Harvard Divinity School. The title of his message was “Hell Disappeared. No One Noticed.” Marty’s research had failed to turn up a single scholarly article dealing with the subject of hell in any significant theological journal over the previous century. Citing the dearth of attention being given to so large a topic, Marty suggested that if evangelicals really took seriously what Scripture says about eternal punishment, someone with a voice should notice.

Almost no one did . . . Hell’s fall from fashion indicates how key portions of Christian theology have been influenced by a secular society that stresses individualism over authority and the human psyche over moral absolutes. The rise of psychology, the philosophy of existentialism, and the consumer culture have all dumped buckets of water on hell.”

Billy Graham opined here decades ago that “Because it’s not preached much anymore, few people seem to believe in Hell. A number of ministers say that they have never preached a sermon on Hell. Yet most [Biblical] references to Hell are made by Jesus Himself.” In late 2025, Christian actor Kirk Cameron questioned the concept of Hell and shared that he was now leaning towards annihilationism. Naivion, who had much of value to say about justice and judgment in August 2025, admitted in Jan 2026 that he does not believe in Hell.

In 2003, Barna surveyed American Christians and found the following:

• “76 percent of Americans believe in heaven, and 71 percent believe in hell.
• Only 32 percent believe that hell is ‘an actual place of torment and suffering.’
• 40 percent believe it is ‘a state of eternal separation from God’s presence.’
• 64 percent believe that they will go to heaven,
• Only 0.005 percent believe that they will be sent to the flames.”

In fact, a 2008 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey reflected a decrease from 71% to 59% at that time. I suspect the number of Christians today (2026) who believe in the historic doctrine of Hell is actually now lower than 50%.

Annihilationism (the belief that after the Last Judgment, the souls of the damned will be completely destroyed and cease to exist) is on the rise with even more pastors denying the historic doctrine of Hell. Carlton Pearson, the late Pentecostal Preacher and Oral Roberts mentee, rejected the doctrine of Hell. Tragically, those that do not reject the historic doctrine of Hell are often silent about it from the pulpit. But we cannot grasp the magnitude of Christ’s grace and mercy without understanding Hell. Over half of Jesus’ parables deal with judgment. The justice and holiness of God are foundational to the existence of Hell.

Catholic theologian Charles Pope writes in his book The Hell There Is: An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church,

“Of all the theological errors commonly held today, the most popular is surely the denial of the doctrine of hell . . . If it exists at all, for many, it is largely empty, except perhaps for a few serial killers or genocidal maniacs like Hitler. But for the vast majority—Catholic, non-Catholic, and atheist—hell is a very remote possibility. Never mind that Jesus taught just the opposite, say that “few” are on the narrow road of Salvation and that “many” prefer the darkness (Jn 3:19) and are on the wide road that leads to hell (see Mt 7:13; Lk 13:24). Never mind that twenty-one of Jesus’s thirty-eight parables feature scenes of judgment where some are saved and others are lost.”

Pope recognizes that the rejection of Hell signals a deeper problem: “[the] rejection of the Scriptures as the inspired and inerrant word of God.” We tend to gloss over the uncomfortable words of Jesus in Matt 7:13-14 – “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” If we take those words at face value, it is clear (and terrifying) that far more people will end up in Hell than in Heaven. This is why many increasingly question the existence of Hell today; they simply cannot accept that most people will end up there for eternity.

Matt 10:28 is a sobering verse where Jesus declares, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Hell is described in the Bible as a place of eternal suffering, where the torment is unending and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48). Additionally, Rev 14:11 states that “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,” indicating the permanence of this suffering.

Jesus repeatedly emphasized the seriousness of divine judgment. However, this does not mean that Hell was more important to Him than heaven, as His mission was to save people from Hell. It is only when we grasp the historic orthodox doctrine of Hell that we begin to appreciate the awesome scope and power of Christ’s mercy and grace. We correctly emphasize the infinite divine love that he manifested on the cross . . . but conveniently forget that it was also a terrifying display of God’s wrath and judgment against sin.

We cannot grasp what Christ did in the Atonement without understanding Hell. When we discard Hell, we cheapen the atoning, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.