Yes, Jesus believes in Hell and so do His followers. Eternal punishment, not annihilation. Etc.
I do not want to be flippant. I too, have neighbors and friends who think this idea is outdated and mean. Therefore, I've put several resources on hell on this blog this week, just scroll down to find them.
One more is Tim Keller's little article:
Brimstone for the Broad-Minded, Preaching Hell in an Age of Tolerance
excerpt:
Moderns reject the idea of final judgment and hell.
Thus, it's tempting to avoid such topics in our preaching. But neglecting the unpleasant doctrines of the historic faith will bring about counter-intuitive consequences. There is an ecological balance to scriptural truth that must not be disturbed.
If an area is rid of its predatory or undesirable animals, the balance of that environment may be so upset that the desirable plants and animals are lost—through overbreeding with a limited food supply. The nasty predator that was eliminated actually kept in balance the number of other animals and plants necessary to that particular ecosystem. In the same way, if we play down "bad" or harsh doctrines within the historic Christian faith, we will find, to our shock, that we have gutted all our pleasant and comfortable beliefs, too.
The loss of the doctrine of hell and judgment and the holiness of God does irreparable damage to our deepest comforts—our understanding of God's grace and love and of our human dignity and value to him. To preach the good news, we must preach the bad. --TK
The quote below was about divine election, but works for the doctrine of Hell as well:
