Why do people even believe in hell?

[°Leprechaun]

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

I believe that the eternal patience and forgiveness of the Lord erases Hell as a theological necessity. Eternal Hell was invented by man to keep people in line, but it is inconsistent with a benevolent, merciful, eternally patient God. Your story will go on, because if there's not a happy ending, it is because God's ultimate plan has not yet been fulfilled.

That is not to say there will not be loss. And that loss may be simply having all of one's efforts in this life revealed as nothing more than selfishness and wasted potential.

There is uncertainty here, as with all things. But the more intimate I have become with my faith, the more I doubt the existence of eternal suffering, which neither corrects sin nor allows the sinner to repent for what they have done. It is purely a threat of retribution, not restitution.

How many times can you find the phrase "eternal hell" in the Bible or the word "hell" in the gospel of John?

[°Leprechaun]

If the Kingdom of God is within (that still small voice), then what beliefs are in your brain shouldn't matter. Most people on planet earth are not Christians, so that shouldn't be a necessity to avoid an eternity in hell. A person's ethical beliefs are more important than their religious beliefs. Perhaps ethics are intuitive, and those who listen to the thoughts of their selfish (one might even say narcissistic) ego instead of the still small voice within chose evil instead of good.