The existance of hell in christianity

Some do - I come from a family of Baptists, and both of my parents (and most of the people who went to our church) believed the whole 'hellfire and brimstone' pitch. However, I think the idea of hell is beginning to fall out of favor with some Christians. The idea of eternal punishment for 100 years or less of sin seems a little heartless and cruel to some people, and it kind of contradicts the whole 'loving and forgiving' God idea. I mean, honestly, if you're children were bad throughout their childhood, would you want to make them go through agonizing torment for the rest of their adulthood? Is this what a loving person does? Not really - and that's why a lot of people don't really take the idea of Hell all that seriously, anymore.

Actually, I'm a little confused on this myself! I am not Christian, but having lived for a while in a town that was home to one of the country's largest Christian universities, I often encountered people from different branches of Christianity. I've met some people who believe that hell is a literal place, an actual "lake of fire", and that everyone who doesn't accept Jesus into their hearts will go there when they die. I've also met people who believe that there isn't a separate place called Hell, but when the world ends, Jesus will just reach down from Heaven and yank all of the true believers into Heaven. There would be all sorts of car crashes, as people are suddenly yanked into Heaven while driving, and their car goes out of control. All of the people left on Earth will be stuck there, and the Devil will come to Earth to reign. Then, the only way people will be able to get into Heaven is if they go to the Devil and say, "I love Jesus, so kill me," and then you let him chop your head off. Yep. That's what they say...

I was a christian. I really think that you need to refine your question. Some christians believe in a material Hell. But even the Romans have given that one up. (Orthodox XCians never bought that package) It is still a useful tool for the more Fundamentalist XCians. After all they need to scare people with something! Unlike some faiths they don't generally believe that if it went bad it was your fault.