[quote=@Andreyich]
This is why Western Christianity is so flawed. This understanding of hell(or lack thereof) and the after-life is completely incompatible with the understanding of God being all-forgiving AND all-merciful AND all-compassionate/understanding and is simply wrong.
[/quote]

Funny thing here is I completely agree with you for the most part.  The doctrine of hell itself is flawed and 'hell' only exists where sinful people make it.  So essentially Earth in its current form is our 'hell'.  Also there is no such thing as an 'after-life', there is only life and death, the spark of life or nothingness.  There is a resurrection where the dead are brought back to life but it is not as separate entities called souls, but as a complete person.  A 'living' soul is a flesh and blood person, not some formless thing trapped in our bodies.

God is so compassionate and understanding, that he is willing to look past anything people do if they truly want to accept and follow him and follow through on that promise.  He is also compassionate enough to allow his creations to not choose him and go their own way, but as God himself is the source of [i]all life[/i], the natural consequence of that is [i]death[/i].  If someone hates God so completely that living forever in his presence would be their own version of 'hell', God will not take their free will away but instead accept their decision and let them go.

God will not give people immortality if it would only bring them misery.  Thankfully mortal life on this Earth will not continue forever and the terrible cycle will one day cease to be and those who are saved will be free to live out their eternal lives in the world as it was supposed to be before sin messed everything up. In the end, it's about about God allowing his creations to make the final decision for themselves.