Now we see as though through a glass darkly, but then face to face.
Thing is, the only way the eternal suffering part is relevant is if some part of us that is not part of our human consciousness DOES understand the impact of eternal suffering. Otherwise, God would be like me saying to my dog that if he did not sit and stay I will beat him for five minutes every day until he dies. He can’t wrap his head around it and my threat falls on deaf ears, not due to the dog’s refusal to listen, but inability to understand.
Humans simply can’t wrap their brain around a “loving” God sending the unbelievers to unending and incomprehensable torture. So what is its function, exactly? In other words, to use the most important word in the english language: Why?
Without disrespecting you, I'd rather not take this thread to debate the suffering issue. I'm not ducking it, but my response would take into account that:
(1) there are three kinds of life and three kinds of death; that
(2) we are not dogs, but can be taught abstractly; that
(3) the whole world is already condemned; and that
(4) like Melcizedec, God is first above all holy (righteous) and after that merciful (God of peace) to humans that have heard the gospel and believed.
IF you would agree that God The Father Almighty is righteous, fully and totally righteous and that no unrighteousness can be in His presence lest it taint His Righteousness, then we can get somewhere in this exchange. Can you agree to that?