Swedenborgianism affirms the reality of hell as a spiritual state where those separated from God dwell. However, hell is not a place of eternal punishment imposed by God but a state freely chosen by those whose dominant love is self-love and evil. Those who cannot bear the presence of divine love because they love self and evil naturally gravitate to communities of like-minded spirits in the spiritual world.

God does not force anyone to hell; rather, hell is the consequence of one's own choices and character. The spiritual law that like seeks like ensures that those who have rejected divine love find themselves in circumstances suited to their internal state. Hell is real suffering, but it is self-chosen and self-perpetuated, not a divine punishment.