Hell
Some people have difficulty believing that God would torture people eternally:
- The idea of everlasting torture goes against the nature of love and compassion. Civilized people do not torture their worst enemies on earth.
- The doctrine of eternal torture makes saved people seem cold-hearted, as they would be rejoicing in others' suffering.
- The expectation would be that God punish fairly and common sense dictate that it would be cruel to punish people eternally for the sin of a few years without any hope for recovery.
Traditional Christianity teaches that when a person dies they go to heaven or hell, which is not correct because it is a belief based in Greek mythology that came into Christianity. The Greeks believed in an “immortal soul”, but the Bible makes it clear that the soul is not immortal but can and does die (cp. Matthew 10:28).
Where are dead people now?
They are dead and they will be dead until they are raised from the dead.
The hell
In orthodox Christianity, “hell” is a very hot and fiery place where the Devil and his demons live and where the souls of unsaved people go to be tormented forever. There is no such place. The word “hell” can be confusing in English versions, especially the older ones. For example, in the King James Version, the word “hell” is used to translate four different words: Sheol, Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus. -- Appendix 3 - Revised English Version
For example:
Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. -- Matthew 5:22 (ESV)
Gehanna
“Gehenna” is Greek for the “Valley of Hinnom”. Gehenna is the Greek word that comes from the Hebrew words “ge,” meaning “valley,” and “Hinnom,” which was a man’s name. In the Old Testament, the valley is known both as the Valley of Hinnom (Nehemiah 11:30; and some Hebrew texts of Joshua 15:8) and also as the “Valley of the sons (or son) of Hinnom” (Joshua 18:16; 2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31). It seems that Hinnom’s descendants eventually took over and controlled the valley, and thus “the Valley of Hinnom” became “the Valley of the sons of Hinnom.” The “Ge Hinnom,” the Valley of Hinnom, is first mentioned in the book of Joshua as part of the northern boundary of the tribal area assigned to Judah (Joshua 15:8). It is the valley immediately south of the city of Jerusalem. This geographical point is very important because the history of the Ge Hinnom is closely tied to Jerusalem.
In Old Testament times, the Valley of Hinnom became associated with pagan sacrifice and even child sacrifice. For example, Ahaz, king of Judah, offered his children as human sacrifices there (2 Chronicles 28:1-3). The prophet Jeremiah spoke out against these evils and foretold that the Valley of Hinnom would be so full of buried bones that there would finally be no more room to bury anyone else (Jeremiah 7:31, 32). Although Jeremiah spoke of dead bodies and ashes being thrown there, he also mentioned that it would one day be clean, which will happen in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ (Jeremiah 31:40). The bones made the whole area a place to avoid, because if an Israelite touched a human bone then that person would be unclean for seven days (Numbers 19:16). This could be a serious hindrance to worship, especially if someone had come a long way to Jerusalem to worship but then became unclean and unable to worship for seven days because he or she accidentally touched a bone on the way into the city.
Because it was unclean, the Valley of Hinnom came to be used as a garbage dump by the people of Jerusalem. This was very handy because, as anyone who has to take out the garbage knows, it is always nice if you can carry it downhill and not too far. The inhabitants of Jerusalem would just carry their garbage, including dead animals, bones, and other waste, outside the south gate of the city (still to this day called “the dung gate”), down the hill, and into the “Valley of Hinnom”; into Ge Hinnom. The waste that was dumped there was then either burned up in the fires that usually burned there, or it rotted away, being eaten by maggots and worms. The fire and maggots that continually consumed the garbage in the Valley of Hinnom are the reason Scripture says that after the Judgment, the fire will not be quenched nor the worm die (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48). By the time of Christ, the Valley of Hinnom had been used for centuries by the inhabitants of Jerusalem as their local garbage dump.
When the Hebrew words, “Ge Hinnom” were translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the “Ge Hinnom” became the “pharagx Hennom,” because “pharagx” is the Greek word for “valley.” Then, by the time the New Testament was written, the Greek name for the valley had simply become “Gehenna.” The Greek word for “valley,” pharagx, dropped off and the Hebrew word for valley, “ge,” was brought directly from the Hebrew into the Greek even though it did not have a meaning in Greek. Of course, something got lost when that happened, and what got lost was that Gehenna was a real geographical valley south of Jerusalem, and that real place became thought of as some otherworldly fiery region and eventually translated “hell” in some English Bibles, including the King James Version.
Christ spoke in Aramaic or Hebrew, so his audience was never confused about the identity of the place he was talking about. Christ’s audience knew the Ge Hinnom very well, and a large percentage of them had probably thrown garbage there. They understood perfectly what Jesus was saying and the seriousness of his words: if someone purposely continues in flagrant sin, then on the Day of Judgment that person would not be let into the wonderful Millennial Kingdom, but like the garbage, would be thrown out and destroyed. The garbage was worthless, and people who arrogantly and flagrantly lived a life of sin were worthless to their Creator, and both the garbage and the unsaved sinners were to be destroyed. These are hard words, but they are the truth, and Christ taught them.
Christ’s audience knew about the Valley of Hinnom where the garbage was burned until it was gone, but they would have known nothing about a place where people are burned alive forever. The Old Testament certainly does not mention such a place. However, when Gehenna is translated as “Hell,” English readers are led to believe that when Christ spoke of Ge Hinnom he was speaking of a place of eternal torment. He was not. He was speaking of the simple concept that the wicked and unsaved will be destroyed. The wicked will, like the garbage, be totally consumed into nothingness. Their lives will end in every way—they will be annihilated.
The concept of “burning forever in hell” came into Christianity from the Greeks who believed in an “immortal soul.” It is important, however, to realize that the phrase “immortal soul” is not in the Bible. Eternal torment is not the teaching of Scripture. John 3:16, and many other verses teach the simple truth that each person will either live forever or be destroyed and be totally gone.
Although many Christians believe that the unquenchable fire and worms that do not die refer to everlasting torment, that is not the case. No one in Christ’s audience thought the garbage thrown into Gehenna burned forever or that the worms (maggots) were “eternal maggots.” Christ’s audience knew that the fire burned and the worms ate until the garbage was gone, and after the judgment, the garbage people thrown into Gehenna will one day be gone too. The picture of Gehenna is one of the total destruction of the sinner.
Hades
Greek mythology
In Greek mythology, Hadēs was both the name of the god of the underworld and also the name of the underworld itself. When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek around 250 BC, the Septuagint translators translated the Hebrew word Sheol by the Greek word Hadēs. It was actually a bad choice to translate Sheol as Hadēs, because in Sheol people are dead, whereas the Greeks believed that in Hadēs the souls of dead people were alive. Greek mythology had many stories of people being alive in Hadēs. So when the Greek-speaking Jews in Egypt translated Sheol as Hadēs, by the stroke of a pen they turned dead people into living people, and this introduced great confusion about the state of the dead into Judaism and then into Christianity, and that confusion still exists today. Actually, that confusion continued and perhaps was exacerbated when the New Testament books of Matthew, Luke, Acts, Corinthians, and Revelation used the word Hadēs. Although the New Testament use of Hadēs was the same as its use in the Septuagint, it is understandable that most Greeks would have seen Hadēs in light of their traditional mythology, and believed that the god Hadēs (the Devil) lived in Hadēs and reigned over the people there. So today millions of Christians believe that the souls of dead people are alive and suffering in “Hell” (Hadēs) because of what came from Greek mythology into Christianity.
The sea of the dead
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it... -- Revelation 20:13 (ESV)
A possible explanation:
This statement showed the knowledge and power of God. In the ancient cultures, including the Roman culture at the time John was writing, the seas were thought of as powerful, dangerous, and unforgiving. People who were on ships that sank and even many people who fell in the water close to shore were often drowned and never found again. Many people who sailed away from shore on ships were simply never heard from again; the ship would sail out of sight and presumably sink, but people would not really know because often neither the ship, nor things from the ship, nor any people on the ship would ever be seen again. And that situation had existed on earth for thousands of years; ever since Noah’s Flood. So for John to say that at the resurrection the sea would give up the dead who were in it was a big deal to John’s readers and showed God’s power and authority over even very powerful forces like the sea.
Revelation also state:
... Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. -- Revelation 20:13-14 (ESV)
John did not say that "the lake of fire" will forever torment the "judged". The idea is that they will be thrown in a lake of fire to be burned up and to die which is referred to "the second death" which means they will cease to exist after they burned up.
Out of context it seems like John supported the idea that "Orcus" (Death) and "Hades" are Greek mythological figures thrown into "the lake of fire", but the next version explain what John meant:
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. -- Revelation 20:15 (ESV)
In other words, all dead people including those who were lost at the sea, those who area dead and buried in graves (Hades) will be raised to be judged. Then those who will be judged will be thrown into "the lake of fire" die for a second time, but this "lake of fire" will completely destroy them so that they cease to exist.
The grave
An alternative translation of "Hades" is "the grave".
Hadēs was the Greek word that was used in both the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) and the Greek New Testament to represent what the Hebrew word Sheol meant in the Hebrew language. -- Appendix 3 - Revised English Version
Bullinger wrote:
Hadēs. This is a heathen word and comes down to us surrounded with heathen traditions, which had their origin in Babel, and not in the Bible…. As Hadēs (a word of human origin) is used in the New Testament, is the equivalent for the Hebrew Sheol (a word of divine origin), its meaning can be gathered not from human imagination, but from its Divine usage in the Old Testament. If we know this, we know all that can be known. -- E. W. Bullinger
Sheol
Sheol referred to the state of being dead. Sheol was not the physical grave itself, but the state of being dead (the actual physical grave was referred to in Hebrew as the qeber (קֶבֶר). Some theologians refer to Sheol as “gravedom” (“the reign of the grave;” or “the reign of death”). Sheol (Hadēs in the Greek Bible) is not a place, it is a state of being — the state of being dead. In the Hebrew Old Testament, dead people are said to be in Sheol. -- Appendix 3 - Revised English Version
Bullinger lists all 65 uses of Sheol in the Old Testament, then he wrote:
On a careful examination of the above list, a few facts stand out very clearly. …”The grave”…stands out…as the best and commonest rendering. As to the rendering “hell,” it does not represent Sheol, because both by dictionary definition and colloquial usage, “hell” means the place of future punishment. Sheol has no such meaning, but denotes the present state of death. “The grave” is therefore a far more suitable translation….
The student will find that “THE grave,” taken literally as well as figuratively, will meet all the requirements of the Hebrew Sheol; not that Sheol means so much specifically “A” grave as “THE” grave.
If we enquire of it in the above list of the occurrences of the word Sheol, it will teach:
- That as to direction, it is down.
- That as to place, it is in the earth.
- That as to nature it is put for the state of death. Not the act of dying…but the state or duration of death. Sheol therefore means the state of death; or the state of the dead; which the grave is tangible evidence. It may be sometimes personified and represented as speaking, as other inanimate things are. It may be represented by a coined word, Grave-dom, as meaning the dominion or power of the grave.
- As to relation, it stands in contrast with the state of the living…. It is never once connected with the living except by contrast.
- As to association, it is used in connection with mourning; sorrow; fright and terror; weeping; silence; no knowledge; punishment.
- And finally, as to duration, the dominion of Sheol or the grave will continue until, and only end with, resurrection, which is the only exit from it.
- Hadēs is invariably connected with death; but never with life; always with dead people; but never with the living. All in Hadēs will “not live again” until they are raised from the dead (Revelation 20:5). That the English word “hell” by no means represents the Greek Hadēs; as we have seen that it does not give a correct idea of its Hebrew equivalent, Sheol. That Hadēs can mean only and exactly what Sheol means, vis., the place where “corruption” is seen and from which resurrection is the only exit.”
The fate of the wicked
Total destruction
But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch and tear you from your tent;
He will uproot you from the land of the living. — SelahThe righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh (mock) at him, saying,
“See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”
-- Psalm 52:5-7 (ESV)
and
But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God: then I discerned their end.
Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!-- Psalm 73:16-19 (ESV)
and
He stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
That though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever.
-- Psalm 92:6-7 (ESV)
and
The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. -- Psalm 145:20 (ESV)
and
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool:
but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
-- Isaiah 51:8 (ESV)
In the Greek New Testament, the Greek word "apōleia" is used to describe what happens to the wicked:
Something that will help us understand that most of the words in this study, like apōleia (destruction) refer to total annihilation is to remember that some words are inherently telic (they have an endpoint), while other words are inherently atelic (they do not have an endpoint). Words like “torture,” “pain,” and “suffering” are atelic; the words themselves do not have an endpoint. Torture and suffering may go on for a minute, a month, a year, or forever. The vocabulary word itself does not have an inherent boundary—it may go on forever. In contrast, words such as “destruction,” “annihilation,” and “extinction” are telic, they have an inherent endpoint. If nothing is ever finally destroyed, then what happened was not “destruction.” The same is true with “annihilation.” If in the end nothing is “annihilated,” then the process was not “annihilation.” Similarly “extinction” is not “extinction” if in the end, something is not “extinct.” It is important to understand the difference between telic and atelic words because the vocabulary God uses when it comes to the wicked is telic. They are destroyed, annihilated, and extinct. They no longer exist.
A closing comment on apōleia is appropriate: We should pay attention to the fact that Jesus contrasted “life” with “destruction” (Matt. 7:13, 14). That clearly implies that “life” is not “destruction,” that is, those who are alive are not destroyed, and those who are destroyed are not alive. Jesus did not say that there was “life” for both the good and wicked, and the only difference between them was the quality of their life (joy or torment). We contend that Jesus chose his words carefully and accurately, and taught the great truth that the wicked are annihilated in the Lake of Fire.
For example:
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction (apōleia), and those who enter by it are many. -- Matthew 7:13 (ESV)
and
Their end is destruction (apōleia), their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. -- Philippians 3:19 (ESV)
and
But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction (apōleia) of the ungodly. -- 2 Peter 3:7 (ESV)
The Greek word "apollumi" means to "fully destroy" or "to perish". This is used in scriptures like:
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy (apollumi) both soul and body in Gehenna. -- Matthew 10:28 (REV)
and
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish (apollumi), but have everlasting life. -- John 3:16 (KJV)
and
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish (apollumi) without the law... -- Romans 2:12 (ESV)
Death
The wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish — like smoke they vanish away. -- Psalm 37:20 (ESV)
and
Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine: the soul who sins shall die. -- Ezekiel 18:4,20 (ESV)
and
Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. -- Ezekiel 33:13 (ESV)
Cease to exist
“Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; You will seek me, but I shall not be.” -- Job 7:21 (ESV)
Job was concerned that he would cease to exist because he was under the impression that God did not pardon his transgressions and iniquities. He did not expect to be in heaven with God.
Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds, he will perish forever like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’He will fly away like a dream and not be found, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him.-- Job 20:6-9 (ESV)
and
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. -- Psalm 37:10 (ESV)
and
When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more. -- Proverbs 10:25 (ESV)
and
For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease. -- Isaiah 29:20 (ESV)
and
Those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.
-- Isaiah 41:11-12 (ESV)
and
But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
What do you plot against the LORD?
He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time.
-- Nahum 1:8-9 (ESV)
Consumption like a fire
The wicked's end is often compared with a fire that consumes everything such that nothing is left afterwards.
You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. -- Psalm 21:9 (ESV)
and
But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.
-- Isaiah 1:29 (ESV)
and
For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.
-- Malachi 4:1-3 (ESV)
None of these scriptures mentioning anything about an eternal fire that burns the same wicked people forever. Instead, David and Isaiah made it clear that they will be "consumed" which means they cease to exist.
Cartoon picture often show a naughty devil with a fork, however, John the baptist says that Jesus is the one who holds the fork:
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John. -- Matthew 3:10-13 (ESV)
Some argue that "unquenchable fire" means "eternal fire" which is a description of the hell. In this context, Matthew more likely meant that the people will not be able to quench Jesus' fire. Nobody expects Jesus to literally cut up people with an axe or to fork people like wheat. This is metaphoric language to compare a former that separates diseased trees from healthy fruitful good trees or wheat from chaff.
A few chapters later Matthew explain what Jesus meant with the metaphor:
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. -- Matthew 7:15-20 (ESV)
Matthew also records another parable where Jesus explains a parable to his disciples:
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
-- Matthew 13:36-42 (ESV)
The expectation of a furnace is to burn up all impurities such that nothing is left of it.
John also records a similar parable that compares the wicked's destruction to a fire that burned them up:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away... Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. -- John 15:1-2,6 (ESV)
James also compares the greedy's consumption with the consumption of a fire.
Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat (esthiō) your flesh like fire. -- James 5:3 (ESV)
The Greek word "esthiō" literally means "eat" but could also mean "consume" and is associated with "corrosion" such that the subject is reduced until nothing is left.
The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels: In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction (exolethreuō) from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. -- 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 (KJV)
The Greek word "exolethreuō" means "total destruction" is used in scriptures like. According to Paul, our Lord Jesus Christ would use "flaming fire" to "totally destroy" the disobedient such that their destruction would be "everlasting". There will be no recovery in purgatory nor any other second chance.
Peter also said this when he quoted:
Moses said,
‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed (exolethreuō) from the people.’
-- Acts 3:22-23 (ESV)
Peter also said that God set an example of what is about to happen with Sodom and Gomorrah:
If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction (katastrophē), making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. -- 2 Peter 2:6 (ESV)
The people from Sodom and Gomorrah is no longer tormented or crying out in pain. There is literally nothing left of them. The Greek word "katastrophē" means "a condition of total destruction". This is the example we should expect.
The lake of fire
John wrote that he saw "the lake of fire" in his revelation:
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” -- Revelation 21:8 (ESV)
Literally it would mean that the "second death" is not really "death", but actually a "lake of fire". However, as seen above, this view contradicts the rest of the bible. Some is of the opinion:
Since the Bible cannot contradict itself, it cannot say that the Lke of Fire is the second death and also say people live forever in torment. One category of those statements would have to be figurative, and we are seeing that the figurative verses are the few that seem to say people will burn forever; they are the figure of speech hyperbole, which is exaggeration. -- Appendix 4 - Revised English Version
Life and death
The Greek word "thanatos" means "death".
Instead of "eternal life in pleasure" with "eternal life in torment", Paul is rather contrasting eternal "life" with "death":
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death ("thanatos").
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
For the wages of sin is death ("thanatos"), but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-- Romans 6:20-23 (ESV)