[LOOKAYANNER]

It does sound like a bad place, but what proofs are there that such place exists? I dont know of any credible evidence of anyone who has ever come back after death to give a detailed decription of it. My view is that if the God of the Bible is "merciful", as is often quoted in the Scriptures, then He would never cast any of his creations into a lake of fire. He wouldn't be so cruel as to torture his inventions for eternity. That is a contradiction. One can't be all merciful and a tormenter at the same time. Perhaps Hell is in the Bible because the men who wrote it knew that they couldn't count on faith alone to convince the flock to become a believer. So they added the scary stuff in it to get the job done.
I don't know the answers to these type questions. I don't think anyone really does, although many people of various religions worldwide will say they do, and quote Scriptures from their holy books to prove it. But I guarantee you that for every scripture one can quote that there are also thousands of other religions throughout the world, some much older than Christianity, that can quote different views. It's a philosophical debate. I believe no one should ever be afraid to ask questions and worry about skepticism when discussing these subjects. No one religion has the 'right' answer. They just believe they do because that's what they have learned in the culture where they were raised. When we consider that almost 40% of the world lives in two countries, China and India, and that their billions are of different religions and beliefs than Christianity, it puts it in a little more perspective in my opinion.