What can faith say to people already living through hell on earth from war and hunger?

At its core, hell means distance from God and paradise means nearness to Him. Much of the misery in the world is a hell that people have created themselves by abandoning justice and truth, and so the way out lies in returning to those principles.

Anyone who wants to give hope to people suffering war and hunger must first understand what hell and paradise really mean. At its core, hell is distance from God. Paradise is nearness to God. Once this is understood, much becomes clearer.

Why does the world suffer from wars and atrocities? Because people have abandoned the principles that all religions have taught. Justice, truth, fair play and doing good to others. Where these are missing, a hell arises, and it arises here on earth. The first verse above says exactly this.

If we examine the world’s great problems wisely, we nearly always reach a moral root in the end. People speak of economic or social causes. Yet many economic problems themselves arise from dishonesty, greed and ruthlessness. When burglars wreck a family’s home, it is often not need but moral decay. The family then lives through a hell that others have made.

This is the deepest point. Someone who does not believe he is answerable to God reckons only with not being caught. No law can truly hold him back. Without a sense of accountability before God, no society can be morally healed.

So faith’s message to those who suffer is not empty consolation. It shows where hell comes from, and that it can change when people change within, as the second verse says. And it reminds us that with every hardship God also opens a way to ease.