Hell

[Ryft]

1. "Hell is a place sinners are sent to and can never return from, correct?"

Ehhhh... sure, correct. (Hell is an event, not a place.)

2. "Hell is designed for eternal banishment and suffering, correct?"

Eternal banishment? Question #1 already asked that. Eternal suffering? Incorrect.

3. "If your God created this place called hell, did he not believe in the rehabilitation of ... sinners?"

Of course he did; but that takes place here in this life. Hell is reserved for the unrehabilitated. (And if we are talking about the lake of fire, Gk. gehenna, it is not a place God has created but an event he will bring about.)

4. "Or were these people to him just a waste of time ..."

Nothing with God is a waste of time. "The LORD has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster" (Proverbs 16:4). "Even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory" (Romans 9:22-23). And so on.

5. "... and only deserved to be destroyed?"

Yes.

You have to be careful when exploring the subject of hell in Scriptures because "hell" refers to three different things, using distinct Greek words for each—the grave, the lake of fire, and chains of darkness. (The latter is used only once in Scripture, 2 Peter 2:4; only the angels who sinned are subject to that hell, in which they are held until the judgment, after which they join everything else in the lake of fire.)

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What would you have God do? Wipe away their sins at all costs and give them a new start. Well He has done through Jesus. If someone doesn't accept forgiveness how can they be forgiven.

At least give C.S. Lewis the respect of attribution, Solarwave. That is straight out of his book The Problem of Pain: "In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell is itself a question: ‘What are you asking God to do?’ To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does."