Beyond Today Television Program

Burning Questions About Hell

Listen

Downloads

Are you aware that the Bible’s teaching about hell may differ significantly from what you may have always believed?

Transcript

[Steve Myers] The Bible plainly says that the penalty for sin is death. But what happens next? Is God punishing sinners right now in hell and forever? Let's go to the Bible.

Hell can be a scary subject, sinners tortured in ever-burning fiery torment. Now you might think that some people deserve it. I mean especially the worst people that ever lived. People like Hitler, Osama bin Laden, or Pol Pot. Are they burning forever for their sins? What about your unbelieving relatives? What do you believe when you think of hell? Today I'd like to discuss three burning questions about hell. Now most who claim to be believers, they don't know the answers to these questions. They don't really understand what the Bible actually says. And so let's look at a couple of questions that perhaps you've considered before. Is hell a real place? Now to begin with, some believe that hell is just a superstition. I mean it's just something that's symbolic, isn't it? Or is it reality, or is it just plain fiction? Perhaps it's something altogether different?

Well a recent study found something very interesting. Not only that people believe in hell, but they believe it's a real place where people who have led bad lives and die, they die there without being sorry, they're eternally punished. Fifty-eight percent of people believe that. Now what about you? Perhaps you feel the same. Well as we answer these burning questions, we're going to get to the truth of the Bible. We've got to go to the source. We can't just go to perhaps what we were taught when we were young or what somebody else thinks. We have to go to the absolute source, the truth of God's Word. In fact there are many Christians that might contend that if you have even question this idea of hell, well you are rejecting what the church has always agreed to. Do you think that's true? That is not true.

Did you know the doctrine of eternal torment was not a widely held idea for the first 500 years after Christ? In fact the New Testament Church of God, the early apostles, like Paul, and Peter, and James, true believers, believers like Polycarp, they did not accept the idea of an ever-burning hell. So from where did that concept originate? Now if you look back in history, you can make the case that 4,000 years ago these ideas began. In fact about 100 years after the flood, that would take you to Babylon. Back in Babylon they believed in a land of no return. They called it the House of the Dead. And it was a dark and gloomy place that they believed in and the dead there led a weary and miserable existence. Now that's before Christ. That's before Moses. That's before Abraham. And that's where those false ideas began.

Now if we move ahead to Ancient Greece, 2,300 years ago the philosopher Plato was another one who believed in a place where the wicked are punished. And so when you put these things together it is not an overstatement to say that unchristian teachings, Greek philosophy became the basis for the doctrine of hell. And so as we think about that question, is hell a real place? Well we'd have to say yes, but not the place that you might imagine. Now when we begin to look at the Bible we find the most common Old Testament word that's often translated hell is Sheol. Now do you know what Sheol means? It means the grave. In fact it occurs 65 times in the Old Testament. Thirty-one times it's translated grave, another 31 times it's translated hell, and 3 other times translated the pit.

It's interesting to note that the New International Version of the Bible always translates that word grave, and never hell. And what's interesting about it is that word does not imply a place that's always burning, not eternal torment. So if we were to ask the question, who's burning in Sheol? Who's burning in the grave? We'd have to answer, no one. No one's burning in the ground. That's just not happening.

And so when we look at the Old Testament and even the New Testament, and we'll look at a couple of examples in just a moment, you've probably heard of that New Testament word for hell. It's the Greek word Hades. And oftentimes the translators don't even translate that word. They'll just leave it untranslated. And what you'll find is Hades has the exact same meaning as Sheol. It means the grave or the pit. And yeah the grave is a place but it's not a place of eternal torment. The grave is not a place where people are burning continually. Here's a good example of this. When we look at Sheol and we look at what we find in the New Testament, the word Hades.

Now in the Old Testament there's a passage in Job, Job 14:13. Here's what Job wrote. He wrote, "Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is passed." Now that word for grave here, that's Sheol. Sometimes translated hell. "Oh, that You would hide me in hell, You'd conceal me until Your wrath is passed." And he goes on, “that You would appoint me a set time and remember me." So here we find Job praying that God would hide him in Sheol until his appointed time. Now what translator would claim that righteous Job went to hell? I mean that's not the case. I mean, it's very clear here, that Job knew he was going to Sheol, he was going to the grave. And in fact he was taking something with him. He was taking hope with him, hope that God would resurrect him later.

In fact a similar thing is found when we look over to the Psalms. There's an interesting example where King David writes about hell, writes about Sheol. And here's what he says in Psalm 49:15. He says, "God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me." So here's King David, he's called a man after God's own heart, and he speaks of God redeeming him or restoring his life from the power of Sheol. Well is David, that righteous king, burning in hell? I mean obviously scripture is not saying that at all. He's in the grave.

And in fact when we look at Ecclesiastes, it makes it very clear. Ecclesiastes 9:10, it says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there's no work or device, or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave, where you're going." And of course that word for grave, once again, is Sheol, sometimes translated hell, the pit. So in one sense you might say, everyone's going to hell because we are all destined to die and we're all going to the grave. And it's really unfortunate that so many translators were so heavily influenced by human tradition, by Greek philosophy, and just plain misunderstandings. Of course we find too, that it's not just an Old Testament thing.

In fact we find Jesus Christ speaking about this in Matthew 11:23. And in the King James Version of the Bible it says this, it says, "Thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell." That's the King James Version. Well does that mean that the entire city with its people, its animals, the houses, the streets, all went down to hell, and they're being eternally tormented? I mean that's not happening. Of course not. Of course not. If you read it in the New King James, it says, "Hades, the grave," like that Old Testament word Sheol. And so really, what's happening here is Christ is predicting that the city will be destroyed because they won't believe, they won't repent. So what happened? That city was brought down to its own literal grave.

Now don't get me wrong, just because there's not an ever-burning hell doesn't mean that God doesn't punish. And there is a judgment. Everyone must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and take responsibility for his or her actions. But hopefully you can begin to see how misinterpretation and wrong philosophy has affected people's ideas of hell. In fact this Biblical concept of hell, maybe one you haven't heard of before, and maybe it sounds strange, and perhaps it's a little confusing, and maybe you've always wondered about this - how could a good God do something like this? Well don't feel alone because it can be difficult to know exactly where to start.

And so to help you we have a Bible study aid, it's called "Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?" if you want to know the truth. And so call us at the number on your screen, and you can get your free copy of this Bible study aid, so you can discover what the Bible teaches for yourself or you can go to beyondtoday.tv. There on our website, you can download a free copy or you can read it right there online. I mean, this guide will really help you to understand the truth of the Bible. In fact all of our publications are free. And this will help you to answer those burning questions that you may have about hell.

And one thing it will certainly help with, it can give you peace of mind that you can understand the truth because sometimes this idea of eternal torment can be scary. It can be frightening. But don't fall for those wrong ideas. Don't fall for those traditional things. You want to get to the truth. So this study aid will certainly help you to do just that. And when you begin to study it you'll find for yourself that it wasn't until 553 AD that the Catholic Council of Constantinople approved the teaching of hell as a literal place of never-ending punishment for wicked people. But we've seen that's not a Biblical thing. And in fact as time went on what really cemented those wrong ideas about hell, something that happened about 1,000 years after that, you've probably heard of “Dante's Inferno."

Well Dante was an Italian poet, and he wrote an imaginary description of hell in his work, "The Divine Comedy," And at the beginning of that story, it's known as “Dante's Inferno." It's fictional. It's not real. It's a made-up story. And in fact that's where so many of these just dreadful, horrific depictions of the fiery torments of suffering of hell come from. Not from the Bible but from these images of the Renaissance painter, Botticelli, and then later the French artist, Gustave Doré. They created these horrific, stunning, really unforgettable images that depicted these horrors of hell. Now the worst part, Dante and these images had a greater impact on the belief of the torments of hell than the truth of the Bible. I mean Dante's vivid imagination, you know it almost has nothing to do with the true teachings of God's Word.

And so, what resulted? Well the concept of hell has become a matter of folklore and philosophy, rather than biblical fact. Unbiblical ideas, they basically replaced biblical truth when it comes to this concept of hell. And you might say, "Well, wait a second. I'm pretty sure Jesus talked about it, didn't He? I mean, didn't Jesus talk about hell?" Well, He did. He spoke of those who don't have a relationship with Him. And in Matthew 25:46, He said something interesting. He said, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." And so Christ is talking about a time of judgment. And at that time there's two options and they're both eternal. Eternal life and punishment that lasts forever. Now you might say, "Well look at that, that supports the idea of hell, doesn't it? Someone being tormented forever and ever, right? There it is." Okay. Let's look exactly what that passage says. It says everlasting punishment. And so Christ was showing that He simply meant the punishment is permanent. The punishment is final. These people will never come back to life again. Everlasting punishment is not everlasting punishing.

So there's a difference. The punishment is final. It's not continual punishing. And so, when you really look at your Bible, there's nowhere, there's no evidence of someone being alive and tortured forever and ever, and ever. In fact another New Testament example we could find in 2 Thessalonians 1:9, notice the similarities to what Christ taught. Second Thessalonians says this, "These shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, from the glory of His power," in fact we'll look at a little bit more about this verse in a moment. It talks about everlasting punishment. You see that's not eternal torment. And what's the punishment? It's destruction. Not unending pain, not unending suffering. It's not eternal torment. It's not that at all. The punishment is you're done. It's over. Now some may not see exactly what this is saying and turn to Matthew 18 to try to prove there definitely is a hellfire.

Well let's look at that for just a moment. Now these are the words of Christ once again. Matthew 18:9, here's what Christ says. He says, "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It's better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having to eyes to be cast into hellfire." Yeah Christ said that. In fact He's the one that probably spoke about this kind of hell the most. Well what about this hellfire? That's actually the Greek word Gehenna. And it's derived from a Hebrew expression, Ge Hinnom, which is literally the Valley of Hinnom. It was a real place, a literal place, and it was a valley on the south side of Jerusalem. Now that word Gehenna, it's one that really should have been translated to hellfire or sometimes just the word hell. In this place, that word should have just remained Gehenna. And here's why. In Jesus' day Gehenna was Jerusalem's waste site, what we might call today a toxic dump. It was a horrible place. It was a place that was full of just putrid garbage. I mean it included rotting animals. It was so bad it even included the bodies of executed criminals that were thrown into Gehenna to be burned.

So it was a polluted place. It was full of worms and maggots. And when you study history, you'll find that it was a sulfur fed burning dump. And those sulfur fires continued to burn. They never seemed to go out year after year after year, because they'd throw more garbage, more bodies that were added to the pile all the time. And so those fires kept the filth and the vermin, well at least a little bit under control. And so here's Jesus Christ depicting the ultimate destiny of evil and unrepented people using that imagery of Gehenna. And what's going to happen to those people? They're going to end up like the garbage of Gehenna, finally burned to ash, and they'll become dust. You see with that idea there was no concept of Gehenna being a place of eternal torture. Christ wanted people to understand that fate and if you don't repent and you don't change, there is suffering in the future. Do you think the people of His day understood that? I mean they knew that place. They knew it wasn’t eternally burning. But of course, as you consider that, you may find, "Oh, I've never heard that before." I know when I first learned this, I was surprised what the Bible actually taught about hell and eternal judgment. And you probably have more questions.

We want to help you answer those questions. How do you make sense of it? Get our study aid, "Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?" You can call us on the number on your screen and we'll send you a free copy where you can study this, put it next to your Bible, you compare what the Bible is saying to our study aids so that you can really discern the truth. I know you want to know what the Bible really says. In fact maybe you're tired of hearing what others think about it, tired of philosophy if you’ve heard it. Well find out for yourself. Call us at the number here on your screen or go to beyondtoday.tv because there you can begin to read it for yourself and come to what the truth of the Word of God is all about.

Certainly another question that comes to mind is when. That question, when are the wicked punished? I mean God certainly punishes, but when does that punishment take place? Now most people think that happens right when you die. Is that the case? Well before talking about that, we have to recognize the fact there is coming a time that God is going to hold mankind responsible. We all have to take personal responsibility for our actions. And Revelation 21 speaks to that very fact. It reminds us, ultimately those who don't want anything to do with God will have to face judgment. And so it reminds us here the cowardly, the unbelieving, in fact this is Revelation 21:8, the abominable, the murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.

And so you might go, "Whoa, is this talking about an ever-burning hellfire?" Well no, what does it say happens to unrepentant sinners? Well it says they die the second death. They burn up in a lake of fire. So people are not suffering everlasting torment. That's just not the case. When God destroys someone in hell, in this lake of fire, what's the result? It's death. It's death that lasts forever. There's no coming back. There's no resurrection from this fate. And that's why it's called the second death because God will destroy, He'll annihilate an unrepentant person in Gehenna fire. And so the Bible is clear. It speaks of the total destruction of those who will not repent, those who are wicked. Malachi 4 also speaks to that very fact. Notice how clear Malachi 4 is right at the very beginning of that chapter. It says, “’For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all of the proud, yes, all who do wickedly, will be stubble. The day which is coming shall burn them up,’ says the Lord of Hosts. ‘You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I do this,’ says the Lord of Hosts." That's pretty clear, isn't it?

God makes the ultimate fate of unrepentant sinners unmistakable. They will be consumed in the flames of the lake of fire. And what will be left? Ashes. They'll burn up in fire. It's not the mythical hell of torment that so many imagined. You see, God is a God of mercy. He's a God of love. Those who choose to reject God, don't want to follow His way of life, won't obey His law? Ultimately, they'll be consumed by fire and forgotten. They won't be tortured for eternity. And so the plain truth of the Bible teaches that unrepentant sinners are burned up in the lake of fire or Gehenna fire.

Now, when does that happen? Well, the judgment will not take place immediately at death. You don't go to heaven or to a burning hell at death. You go to Sheol or Hades. You go to the grave. In fact Christ Himself verified this in John 5:28. And here's what Christ said, "Don't marvel at this. Don't be surprised at this." He said, "The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation." So there will be judgment for every human being, that's when you'll receive the reward or the punishment. And Christ says don't be surprised. Don't be surprised." You know I've seen some that have taken kind of an inappropriate pleasure believing in hell, believing in hellfire thinking that, "I know evil people that deserve that." But that's not the truth of the Bible. You can know the truth. And God's plan is better than what you may have ever imagined.

So learn about it for yourself, get our free study aid, "Heaven and Hell: What does the Bible Really Teach?" Call us, go to our website at beyondtoday.tv. Don't you want to know what God says on the subject? So get a free copy of our study aid. And you'll be able to know the truth and you'll find that Christ teaches people are not suffering now. And they won't be suffering for eternity. In fact at the return of Christ is when that judgment is finally given, not at death. So as we think about those burning questions, is hell a literal place? Yes. But instead of an ever-burning place of torture, it's simply the grave. It's Sheol. It's Hades. Now we ask the question, did Jesus teach about hell? Yes, He sure did.

He taught about Gehenna fire, where the wicked will be destroyed, and there'll be consumed by the heat of that fire and never live again. The wicked will not live forever burning in hellfire.

And our third burning question, when are the unrepentant punished? Well biblically it tells us not at death. You don't go to heaven or hell at death. Punishment will not take place until after the return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age. And so God's Word is true. It says, "The wages of sin is death, not torture." And so what a blessing to know the truth of God, knowing God Himself. His amazing character, His mercy, and His love, and that He would never treat anyone unfairly. In fact God wants to give you every opportunity to be successful and give you eternal life. He wants eternal life for as many as possible. So I hope you'll get to know him better and learn the truth of His work.

[Narrator] Please call for the booklet offered on today’s program, "Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?" This free study aid will help you answer the tough questions such as, “what did Jesus teach happens to you when you die?”, “Is Heaven God’s Reward for the Righteous?”, “Will a loving God punish people forever in Hell?”, and “What Can Be Learned from the Story of Lazarus and the Rich Man?” Order now. Call toll free 1-888-886-8632 or write to the address shown on your screen. You need to base your beliefs on the solid rock of the Bible. Discover exactly what God has to say about heaven and hell. When you order this free study aid, we'll also send you a complimentary one-year subscription to our "Beyond Today" magazine. The Beyond Today magazine brings you understanding of today’s world, and hope for the future. Six times a year, you'll read about current world events in light of Bible prophecy as well as practical knowledge to improve your marriage and family. Call today to receive your free booklet, "Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?" And your free one-year subscription to "Beyond Today magazine, 1-888-886-8632 or go online to beyondtoday.tv.

Like what you see?

Create a free account to get more like this

Heaven and Hell - What Does the Bible Really Teach?

Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?

USD
Format: 9.99

Steve Myers

Steve is the Operation Manager for the Ministerial and Member Services department of the United Church of God. He is also an instructor at Ambassador Bible College as well as a host on the Beyond Today television program.  Together, he and his wife, Kathe, have served God and His people for over 25 years.

Related Media

Dante's The Divine Comedy
Woodcut by Gustave Doré
Is Hell Real?

Is Hell Real?

May 13, 2014
11 minutes read time
Print
Downloads
Studying the bible?

Sign up to add this to your study list.

Course Content

For Christians who believe in a God of love, the concept of an ongoing hell can be disturbing and difficult to understand. What the Bible truly teaches about hell may surprise you!

Are you afraid that a friend or someone you know is in hell, burning now and forever in fiery torment? On the other hand, you might not be too worried about the thought of your enemies burning in hell.

Perhaps you don't buy into the concept of going to hell at all. Some think it's mere superstition. After all, if God is a Being of great love, why would He condemn people to suffer horrendous agony in hell forever?

Even for a great many who consider themselves Christians, hell can be disturbing and difficult to understand. What the Bible teaches—the truth—is much simpler.

Many believe a in a perpetual fiery hell

Millions of people believe their enemies and even some of their loved ones are burning in the fires of hell right now. A recent survey found that the majority of Americans believe in a fiery hell. The belief is not just one held by Americans. In Britain and Australia, more than three out of 10 surveyed professed a belief in hell. About the same number in Canada accept hell as real.

Many believe that hell is a real place where bad people who have led sinful lives receive eternal punishing. But many struggle to understand how a loving Creator God would condemn His creation to eternal torment. How could that be love?

What are the facts from the Bible about hell? Does God's Word describe it as a real place, or something symbolic? Is it just plain fiction, or is hell something else altogether?

Did you know that early Christians did not believe in the idea of an ever-burning hell? It wasn't a teaching of Jesus or the Bible! We'll explore exactly what Jesus did teach the early Church about hell and judgment. First, let's investigate where the idea of fiery, eternal torment in execution of judgment of sinful life actually came from.

Dante's Inferno

In the early 1300s, the noted Italian poet Dante Alighieri penned an imaginary description of hell in his work The Divine Comedy. The beginning section of that epic poem is known as the Inferno—the Italian word for hell.

This one story is probably most responsible for the commonly held notions of hell today. How could this one story about hell form and shape what millions believe?

In his poem, Dante imagines that the ancient Roman poet Virgil takes him on a guided tour through hell.

At the entrance gates to Dante's hell is an ominous inscription that ends, "Abandon all hope, you who enter here" (Inferno, A New Verse Translation, Dante Alighieri, ed. Elio Zappulla, Canto III, p. 39).

Virgil tells Dante about the journey through hell: "I'll be your guide, and you will follow me, and I will lead you through a world of pain where dead souls writhe in endless agony and clamor, as they cry, to die again" (Canto I, p. 24).

Dante is led through nine circles of hell—various compartments and levels of torturous afterlife. He writes about what he envisions: "So in the ditch, far down below the arch on which we stood, there bubbled viscous pitch . . . I only saw the bubbles rise and burst, the huge mass heave, contract, heave, and contract repeatedly" (Canto XXI, pp. 189–190). He looks to see someone condemned to this level: "The sinner plunged into the pitch [and] they pricked the sinner with a hundred prongs" (Canto XXI, pp. 190–191). 

Dante sees souls locked in searing fiery tombs, people boiling in blood and rained on by fire. Malicious demons jab, poke, whip and beat those who are lost. These sinners are buried head first, but suffer even more misery as scorching flames burn their feet.

Nevertheless, this isn't the fate of all. Others are frozen in a lake up to their heads to suffer the agony of stinging, bitter cold—only able to move their chattering teeth.

Dante created stunning, unforgettable visual images that became etched into people's minds. He played on our worst fears. The gripping scenes he imagined captured the attention and horror of the world—we see this expounded in movies and other popular culture centuries later.

So effective was this one story about hell in its horrid depiction of Dante's ideas of punishment for the sinnerthat this poem, rather than the Bible, molded and shaped the thinking of the world. Don't forget, it was a time very different from today. There were no Bible bookstores, and there certainly wasn't a Bible in every home (the movable-type printing press wouldn't be invented for almost another century and a half).

No wonder people believed it to be true. Even though Dante's work barely has any reference to actual Bible passages, it became the benchmark of what people would believe about the afterlife. The Catholic Encyclopedia even calls it "the Sacred Poem." Dante's Inferno seemingly became the standard of what hell is like and who would go there.

But the story is fiction!

It's important to remember, though, that the Inferno is fiction—fantasy and imagination! It's a made-up story—it's pretend, with no factual evidence! This poem is not literal. It's not even close to a factual interpretation of the Bible's teachings regarding hell! What it describes is not at all what Jesus taught about the fate of sinners!

Dante wrote The Divine Comedy as an allegory, an imaginary poem. It reflects the politics and history of the Italy of his day.

However, that didn't change the incredible impact it had on people's ideas of what hell must be like. It stirred up and reinforced the belief that there must be blistering punishment for the incorrigibly wicked in an ever-burning hell.

Sadly, many have come to believe Dante's descriptions are more or less accurate. Yet they are not!

This may be shocking but, according to the Bible, there is no hell as commonly conceived. The kind of hell most people believe in is not real, nor is it referenced in the Bible. I hope you will not misunderstand: The Bible does teach that there will come a judgment for every human being, but it does not teach that any judgment will end in eternal fiery torment.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," the apostle Paul wrote, "that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

So what exactly is the ultimate punishment for unrepentant sinners?

Many ideas are floating around out there. The Barna Research Group reported: "While there is no dominant view of Hell, two particular perspectives are popular [in the U.S.]. Four out of ten adults believe that Hell is 'a state of eternal separation from God's presence' (39%) and one third (32%) says it is 'an actual place of torment and suffering where people's souls go after death.' A third perspective that one in eight adults believe is that 'Hell is just a symbol of an unknown bad outcome after death' (13%)" (Barna.org, Oct. 21, 2003).

These are just a few of the many ideas about hell. Does the Bible teach that any of these ideas are accurate? No.

What the Bible actually teaches about hell

Notice this short but powerful scripture: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23, emphasis added throughout).   

Did you notice the contrast described in this verse? What do sinners earn? They earn death, not eternal life in hell. On the other hand, God's gift is eternal life through our Savior Christ Jesus. So God's plain teaching is "the wages of sin is death," not "eternal life in torment." Simple but true—yet so many are confused over this truth!

Notice how clearly Scripture describes this. God says: "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). A few verses later, God repeats this, giving it emphasis: "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20).

This is significant! It's a major difference between what God says and what so many people believe. God tells us that souls can die. The Bible plainly says that you don't automatically go on living forever as an immortal soul either in heaven or in hell!

Jesus himself taught, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).   

There is something significant in this famous verse that you may have missed. Jesus tells us that without His sacrifice, we die—we perish—we do not live forever in separation. To "perish" does not just mean to stop living, but to be destroyed, or "to come to nothing"—to cease to exist. In no way does it mean to have eternal life in torment.

You may not have realized that this is what Jesus taught. So take this challenge: Are you willing to be honest with yourself and look at the facts of the Bible and consider that your current understanding is in error?

Hellfire ends existence of the unrepentant

Here's another passage God inspired that you should review. It gives insight into the truth about hell:

"For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,' says the Lord of hosts, 'that will leave them neither root nor branch . . . You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,' says the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 4:1-3).

Will there be punishment for the wicked? Yes. Is it an ever-burning hellfire? No. As their punishment, evildoers will quickly burn, not in eternal torture but in a merciful, quick penalty. Unrepentant sinful people will not be tormented forever. Instead, they will be totally burned up—destroyed and reduced to ashes.

That may sound surprising to you. But that's what the Bible teaches! Those who willingly and willfully reject God's way of life will simply cease to exist; they will not suffer forever.

Yes, the Bible does say that those who choose not to repent of their evil attitude and sin will be punished by fire—but not the mythical hell of human imagination. The Bible shows that God is a God of mercy and love. The wicked will be consumed by fire once, quickly, and then forgotten. They will not be tortured for all eternity. They will receive their eternal punishment (they will cease to exist), but not eternal punishing. Again, their death, their eternal punishment, will last forever, but not the punishing.

So God is indeed the God of great mercy, wisdom and righteous judgment. You don't have to be bogged down with fabricated traditions. Instead, you can take comfort and be encouraged by what Jesus really taught in the pages of your Bible.

There is much more to consider on the subject of hell. The following section examines some specific questions to help you understand more deeply.

Understanding what Jesus teaches about hell

Someone might say to you: Wait a second, didn't Jesus teach about hell? What about Matthew 10:28? It says: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

What is the hell to which Jesus referred? Jesus said people would not suffer everlasting torment. In our English language Bibles, hell in this case is translated from the Greek word gehenna, which refers to a valley just outside Jerusalem. Gehenna is derived from the Hebrew term Gai Hinnom, which means the Valley of Hinnom (Joshua 18:16).

This was what we today would refer to as the city dump—where garbage, trash and refuse were thrown and consumed in the fires that constantly burned there. The carcasses of dead animals—and the bodies of dead, despicable criminals—were also cast into gehenna for disposal. Jesus used this location and what took place there to help us understand the fate the unrepentant will suffer in the future—which, as we saw above, is to be burned up by fire.

God will destroy the wicked, but without proper historical understanding, many people draw incorrect conclusions and have misconceptions about this verse. If you lived in Jerusalem at the time of Christ, what would come to your mind when Jesus mentioned gehenna? You would naturally think of the "city dump" where trash and dead bodies were burned up.

Jesus uses gehenna to describe what the Bible elsewhere calls the lake of fire. God can destroy—annihilate—both the body and soul (physical conscious being rather than immortal soul) in this gehenna. When God destroys an incorrigible person in this gehenna, the resulting death is eternal.

And when are the wicked punished? When does this punishment take place? Does it happen immediately at death? Gehenna is the word Christ used to refer to what Revelation 20:10 and Revelation 20:14-15 call "the lake of fire." It brings "the second death"—permanent, eternal death. This is a reference to the final fate of the wicked. "The second death" means one receives the eternal death penalty, with no possibility of resurrection to eternal life! Those who have sealed their minds never to repent or surrender to Jesus Christ will be totally burned up—destroyed.  

Revelation 21:8 says, "But the cowardly . . . and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Ezekiel 18:4 says, "The soul who sins shall die"—again, the soul is not immortal.

So yes, there is coming a time when Jesus will make those who ultimately refuse to repent take personal responsibility for their actions, meaning for them the lake of fire or second death. But it will not be an eternity in agony!

Hope and mercy

There is hope: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).  

There is no contradiction with God; He truly is a God of mercy and love. Those who willfully reject His way of life will be cast into a hellfire to be burned up. They will not suffer forever in hell or somehow be tortured for all eternity.

We can all be thankful for God's justice, His fairness and His plan of salvation through Christ!

Steve Myers

Steve is the Operation Manager for the Ministerial and Member Services department of the United Church of God. He is also an instructor at Ambassador Bible College as well as a host on the Beyond Today television program.  Together, he and his wife, Kathe, have served God and His people for over 25 years.

 
gehenna
Dante's Inferno
Heaven and Hell
Death
Beyond Today -- What Is Hell? 

What Is Hell?

Many people believe hell is eternal torture, infinite agony and endless pain. But the Bible doesn’t teach this! Discover the...
Watch Episode
A fire flame.
123RF
Could a loving God vengefully torment people, ceaslessly, for all time, without end?

What Is Hell?

Jan 11, 2018
11 minutes read time
Print
Downloads

Listen

Studying the bible?

Sign up to add this to your study list.

Course Content

Most people are sure they will either go to heaven or hell when they die. But just what is hell anyway? And are these ideas based on the biblical truth about hell?

What do you think happens to bad people when they die? Or maybe let’s take morals out of the equation. What happens to people who aren’t Christians after they die? Do they burn forever in a fiery hell?

That’s what a lot of Christians assume. But think about it for a minute. Why would God punish people forever in hell like that? After all, life’s pretty short. So is it fair that the penalty for a brief lifetime of misbehavior earns an eternity of torture and pain? Doesn’t eternal, conscious torment in hellfire seem excessive? Why would a loving God do that?

If you’re a thinking person, you can’t take it lightly. These and other questions about the doctrine of hell are puzzling to many Christians, and they must be answered. There are many incorrect ideas out there taught by Christian churches.

Did you know that the Bible says there is no hell as most people understand that term? Now before you put the magazine down in frustration, let me explain what I mean. The Bible does use the term “hell” in English translations—but not for an afterlife of unending torment. Scripture does teach that there will be judgment for every single human being—and ultimate punishment for those who refuse to repent. But what is that ultimate punishment?

Let’s explore key questions related to the concept of hell, examining what the Bible has to say about it and how it relates to the nature of God, and what lies ahead.

Does a traditional hell match God’s character?

Eternal torture. Endless agony. Infinite affliction. That is what so many believe about hell. But the Bible doesn’t teach that! If that’s your view of hell, I hope you’ll take the challenge and study what the Word of God truly says. Let’s discover what Scripture actually teaches and realize it’s something quite different from the traditional view of hell.

A recent poll has shown that a third of Americans believe that hell is “an actual place of torment and suffering where people’s souls go after death.” Many people have never taken the time to think more deeply about hell and to study God’s Word to compare what they’ve been taught to what the Bible really says. Have you accepted the challenge to do just that?

A common Bible-based Christian teaching is that God loves everybody. So why do so many think that a loving God has created an ever-burning hell? Some even believe that righteous, saved people will actually be able to observe the sufferings of the wicked forever.

Imagine that! By that kind of reasoning, parents would witness the unending suffering of their own children and delight in it. Husbands and wives would somehow feel joy in seeing their unbelieving spouses tortured forever. And here’s the worst part: This idea of hell depicts God as sadistic, cruel and merciless.

Can this concept of hell possibly be true? Let’s remember something that’s critical as we consider the mistaken idea that unsaved people are tortured for all eternity.

The Bible proclaims that “God is love” (1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16, emphasis added throughout). That’s His character, His personality, His nature. It always has been—and it always will be. We are consistently reminded of this throughout the Bible: “Because the Lord loves you . . . Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:8-9).

Centuries later the apostle Paul also wrote about the wonderful, distinctive qualities of the character of our Father: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

From the beginning of the Bible to its end, God’s essence—His very being of love—is described repeatedly. At the beginning of the book of Revelation we’re told: “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come . . . and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:4-6).

Do these passages harmonize with the idea that a loving God will punish people in a hell of unceasing torture and misery? Does it seem reasonable that the penalty for a short lifetime of offense should be agonizing torment that is never-ending?

Why would a loving God send people to hell forever? We’re told, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

That is the heart of God—He wants the best for everyone. He even tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Yet the traditional view of hell would have us believe that God vengefully torments evil people for all time—not just for a few decades or even a few centuries but for infinite time without end! The perception that God sentences people to eternal, ceaseless torture is so disgusting that it has even turned some away from belief in God.

What’s the biblical view of hell?

Here’s a familiar passage—one that you may have memorized. It’s where Jesus Himself taught, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Is there something significant in this famous verse that you may have missed?

What happens to us without the sacrifice of Christ? Jesus said we die. We perish, we do not live forever. In fact, the word “perish” doesn’t mean just to stop living, but to be destroyed, or “to come to nothing”—to cease to exist. That’s a huge difference between what God says and what so many people believe. The Bible tells us that you don’t automatically go on living forever, either in heaven or in hell. Jesus says that we do not have eternal life already in us but that we need to be given everlasting life.

Here’s another powerful passage that reveals this same great truth. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Did you notice the contrast described in this verse? The penalty for sin is death, not eternal life in hell. Death means cessation of life—not conscious separation from God, as many try to redefine it. Those who sin, or disobey God, don’t earn continual torture. They don’t earn unending pain. They don’t earn everlasting agony. They earn death. Their life ends.

But on the other hand, to the repentant, God gives the gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of God through our Savior Jesus Christ. You see, we don’t have eternal life naturally. We don’t have an immortal soul. Eternal life—eternal conscious existence—has to be given to us. That’s why we need to understand God’s plain teaching that “the wages of sin is death”—not a life of ceaseless suffering.

Notice how plainly and consistently Scripture describes this fact: “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). A few verses later, God repeats this—giving it emphasis: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

This is significant! What a difference between what God says and what so many believe. God tells us that souls can die. Have you ever heard that before? Do you realize that the Bible teaches that souls stop living? Jesus Christ said: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him [God] who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). So there is a “hell” of sorts—but it results in total destruction of body and soul, not merely life in torment while forever separated from God.

Here’s the thing: God must sustain life—all life belongs to Him. Souls are actually what we are. According to His Word, we are living souls or beings. We don’t have a soul that is somehow separate from our mind and body. Now what happens to the sinner—the soul—that will not repent? Again, the Bible plainly says that sinners don’t automatically go on living forever in the punishment of hell. Instead, they die.

God’s justice is perfect

In recognizing that the biblical idea of hell isn’t eternal conscious torment, we need to be cautious we don’t fall into the other ditch of thinking there is no ultimate punishment for the wicked. Because God is love, does any kind of punishment at all contradict His character? Absolutely not. Unrepentant sinners will be punished—but fairly and impartially. And not in the kind of eternal hell in which most people believe.

The Bible foretells God’s judgment on the wicked. As punishment, the hardened, unrepentant sinner will be thrown into a lake of fire and will be burned up—no eternal torture, just a merciful, quick death penalty. This is the real hellfire. The unrepentant wicked will not burn forever in this fire. Instead, they will be totally and completely burned up—destroyed and reduced to ashes by the flames of the lake of fire.

Have you ever read this Bible passage? “‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that will leave them neither root nor branch . . . You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 4:1-3).

God’s Word is clear: Those who ultimately choose not to repent of their wickedness and sin will be punished by fire—but not the mythical hell of men’s imagination. It’s not an ever-burning hellfire. It’s not eternal, conscious isolation from God. It’s not unending emotional, mental or physical torment. It’s not everlasting shame, regret or pain. It is final capital punishment that brings the end of life—in fact, the end of existence, utter annihilation, with conscious awareness never to return.

The truth about hell displays God’s mercy

God respects human choice. Because of His loving character and intent that we be like Him, He doesn’t force belief on anyone. Instead He wants us to willingly choose His way. The desperately wicked will be punished not because God refuses to forgive them. It will be a conscious choice on their part to refuse God’s mercy and not repent. Since the wicked will not choose His way, they will be consumed by fire and be no more. They won’t be tortured for all eternity. In fact, God loves them so much He wants their suffering to end.

There is no contradiction. God is a God of mercy and love. He mercifully puts those who reject Him, the Source of all life and all goodness, out of their misery. God is the God of great wisdom, mercy and righteous judgment. When it comes to the topic of eternal punishment and hell, that is the most important thing to remember: God is a God of mercy and love.

Hell is a controversial and often misunderstood subject. What’s the truth? Your Bible clearly states that the wicked will be consumed—destroyed by fire. They will no longer exist. They won’t suffer in eternal conscious torment. When God’s plan for humanity is complete, there will be no more crying, no more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain (Revelation 21:4). The final death of the hopelessly wicked in a lake of fire is a loving act of God’s justice and mercy.

We can all be thankful for His fairness and great plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. He’s planned a wonderful future for those who love Him and accept His mercy. I hope you’ll choose to learn more about it!

 

 

Four Different Words Translated “Hell” in English Bibles

None of the words translated “hell” in English Bibles refers to a conscious afterlife of endless torment. In fact, Scripture states that there is no conscious awareness in death, but that we must be raised to conscious existence in a future resurrection (see Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; Daniel 12:2; 1 Corinthians 15:6; 1 Corinthians 15:18; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). So what do these words translated “hell” mean?

First is the Old Testament Hebrew sheol, which is equivalent to the New Testament Greek term hades. Both these words are used in Scripture in reference to the grave—to burial in the earth.

Next is the Greek term tartaroo, which occurs in only one verse (2 Peter 2:4). It refers here to the present condition of demons, rebellious angels, being restrained or imprisoned on the earth.

Last is the word gehenna, the New Testament Greek form of the Hebrew Gai Hinnom, the Valley of Hinnom than ran along the west and south sides of Jerusalem. During biblical times of terrible apostasy people were burned here in pagan sacrifice—and it became a place to burn garbage. This term was used by Jesus in reference to future judgment in the lake of fire that will ultimately burn up the wicked. There is no sense here of a fire burning and torturing forever.

To learn more about these words and how they are used in Scripture, and more about what the Bible has to say on this subject overall, be sure to send for or download our free study guide Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?

- Tom Robinson

Steve Myers

Steve is the Operation Manager for the Ministerial and Member Services department of the United Church of God. He is also an instructor at Ambassador Bible College as well as a host on the Beyond Today television program.  Together, he and his wife, Kathe, have served God and His people for over 25 years.

 
Death
Heaven and Hell
Woodcarving painting by Gustave Doré.
Gustave Doré
The most comprehensive description of hell as a place, as man commonly views it, is found not in the Bible but rather in the 14th-century work The Divine Comedy, written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

Will a Loving God Punish People Forever in Hell?

Jan 24, 2011
19 minutes read time
Print
Downloads

Listen

Studying the bible?

Sign up to add this to your study list.

Course Content

Millions believe that God is loving and merciful, but also that He has condemned millions to suffer torment for all eternity. Is something wrong with this picture, or is the problem a distorted belief about hell?

Take this simple test. Or perhaps it's better if you just imagined it, since the actual test would prove quite painful.

Light a match, then hold your finger in its tiny flame for five seconds. What happens? You'll likely scream involuntarily and suffer misery for several days from a painful burn.

Perhaps you've seen a burn victim who was disfigured in some horrible accident, his flesh gnarled and misshapen. Imagine being trapped in flames that would char and burn away your skin in the same way. What would that kind of agony feel like if it went on for a minute? For a year? For a lifetime? For ever and ever?

Most people would find the idea horrifying almost beyond imagination. They would understandably be aghast and sickened that anyone might willingly torture another person in that way.

Why, then, are so many willing to accept the idea that the God they worship and hold in highest esteem would willingly inflict such punishment not on just a few, but on a great multitude of people who die every single day? How can such a belief possibly square with the Bible's description of a God who is infinitely loving and merciful?

Just what is the truth about hell?

Hell through the centuries

The traditional view of hell as a fiery cauldron of punishment has been taught for centuries. Perhaps one of the earliest to expound this view among Christians was the Catholic theologian Tertullian, who lived around A.D. 160-225. In the third century, Cyprian of Carthage also wrote: "The damned will burn for ever in hell. Devouring flames will be their eternal portion. Their torments will never have diminution or end" (quoted by Peter Toon, Heaven and Hell: A Biblical and Theological Overview, 1986, p. 163).

This belief has been officially reiterated over the centuries. An edict from the Council of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) in 543 states: "Whoever says or thinks that the punishment of demons and the wicked will not be eternal...let him be anathema" (D.P. Walker, The Decline of Hell: Seventeenth-Century Discussions of Eternal Torment, 1964, p. 21).

The Lateran church council in 1215 reaffirmed its belief in eternal torture of the wicked in these words: "The damned will go into everlasting punishment with the devil" (Toon, p. 164). The Augsburg Confession of 1530 reads: "Christ will return...to give eternal life and everlasting joy to believers and the elect, but to condemn ungodly men and the devils to hell and eternal punishment" (Toon, p. 131).

Teachings on the subject of hell have by no means been consistent through the centuries. Beliefs about hell have varied widely, depending on which theologian's or church historian's ideas one reads. Generally speaking, the most common belief has been that hell is a place in which wicked people are tortured forever, but never consumed, by ever-burning flames.

Hell's location has been a subject of much discussion. Some have believed it to be in the sun. For centuries the common view was that hell is inside the earth in a vast subterranean chamber.

The most comprehensive description of hell as a place, as man commonly views it, is found not in the Bible but rather in the 14th-century work The Divine Comedy, written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. In the first part of this work, called "The Inferno," Dante described an imaginary journey through hell replete with its fiery sufferings.

A more modern interpretation rejects the idea of physical torment and asserts that the torture of hell is mental anguish caused by separation from God. A recent survey of modern attitudes revealed that 53 percent of Americans embrace this perspective (U.S. News and World Report, Jan. 31, 2000, p. 47).

Pope John Paul II "declared that hell is 'not a punishment imposed externally by God' but is the natural consequence of the unrepentant sinner's choice to live apart from God" (ibid., p. 48). Still others have rejected the doctrine of hell outright and believe everyone will be saved.

Why do we see so much diversity in beliefs about hell? Like belief in the immortality of the soul, common misconceptions of hell are rife with the ideas of men rather than the teachings of the Bible.

The popular concept of hell is a mixture of small bits of Bible truth combined with pagan ideas and human imagination. As we will see, this has produced a grossly inaccurate portrayal of what happens to the wicked after death.

An angry God

One of the most graphic descriptions of the torments of hell as conceived by men was given by the Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards in a 1741 sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

He said: "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrows made ready...[by] an angry God...It is nothing but His mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction! The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you and is dreadfully provoked: His wrath towards you burns like fire; He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire...

"You are ten thousand times more abominable in His eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended Him...and yet it is nothing but His hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment...

"O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of God...You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder."

This human concept of hell was so terrible that the prospect of such a fate caused great anguish, fear and anxiety for many Puritans. "The heavy emphasis on hell and damnation combined with an excessive self-scrutiny led many into clinical depression: suicide seems to have been prevalent" (Karen Armstrong, A History of God, 1993, p. 284).

The Puritans were not the only ones tormented by fear of hell. Many people have been terrorized by the thought of hell ever since this non-biblical concept crept into religious teaching. Other ministers and teachers have, like Jonathan Edwards, used a similar approach to frighten people into belief and obedience.

One of the reasons this concept of hell survived is because theologians believed the teaching deterred people from evil. "It was thought that, if the fear of eternal punishment were removed, most people would behave without any moral restraint whatever and that society would collapse into an anarchical orgy" (Walker, p. 4).

Could a compassionate God torture people forever?

Is it possible to reconcile this view of a God who terrorizes people through the fear of eternal torment in hell with the compassionate and merciful God we meet in the Bible?

God is a God of love who does not want any to perish (2 Peter 3:9). He tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). "He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (verse 45). Yet the traditional view of hell would have us believe that God vengefully torments evil people for all eternity—not a few decades or even centuries, but for an infinite length of time.

The idea that God sentences people to eternal punishment is so repulsive that it has turned some away from belief in God and Christianity.

One such example is Charles Darwin. In his private autobiography he wrote: "Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete...I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so, the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe...will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine" (quoted by Paul Martin, The Healing Mind: The Vital Links Between Brain and Behavior, Immunity and Disease, 1997, p. 327).

The problem is not that the Bible teaches this "damnable doctrine," but that men have misunderstood what the Bible says.

Other aspects of the traditional teaching of hell simply offend the senses. One such belief is that righteous people, who are saved, will be able to witness the torments of the wicked. As one author explains the view some hold, "part of the happiness of the blessed consists in contemplating the torments of the damned. This sight gives them joy because it is a manifestation of God's justice and hatred of sin, but chiefly because it provides a contrast which heightens their awareness of their own bliss" (Walker, p. 29).

This scenario is especially revolting for several reasons. According to such twisted reasoning, parents would inevitably witness the suffering of their own children and vice versa, relishing in it. Husbands and wives would feel joy in seeing unbelieving spouses tortured forever. Worst of all, the doctrine paints God as sadistic, cruel and merciless.

Those who insist that the Bible teaches eternal torment by fire should ask whether such a belief is consistent with what the Bible teaches us about God. For example, how could God justly deal with those who have lived and died without having ever received an opportunity to be saved? This would include the millions who died as babies as well as the billions of unbelievers or idolaters who lived and died never knowing God or His Son. Regrettably, the vast majority of all those who have ever lived fall into this category.

Some theologians reason around this difficulty by assuming that those who never had the opportunity to know God or hear the name of Jesus Christ will be given a sort of free pass. The rationale is that since their state of ignorance is due to circumstances beyond their control, God will admit them into heaven regardless of their lack of repentance. If true, this raises a troubling possibility—that missionary efforts to such areas could be the cause of people who do not accept their teachings being lost!

Quandaries such as this have painted many theologians and other Christians into a corner. Accordingly, some have challenged the traditional concept of a hell of eternal torment through the centuries. "In every generation people keep questioning the orthodox belief in everlasting conscious torment" (Four Views on Hell, William Crockett, editor, 1996, p. 140).

Nevertheless, as we have seen, church councils through the ages have upheld the doctrine. Firmly rooted in traditional Christian belief, it's an idea that will not go away. A U.S. News and World Report poll from not too long ago shows that more Americans believe in hell today than in the 1950s or even the 1980s and early 1990s (Jan. 31, 2000, p. 46).

The prospect of hell will continue to haunt people. As U.S. News and World Report concluded, "Hell's powerful images will no doubt continue to loom over humanity, as they have for more than 2,000 years, as a grim and ominous reminder of the reality of evil and its consequences."

More than one hell in the Bible

So what is the truth about hell? What does the Bible really teach? Many are surprised to learn that the Bible speaks of three hells—but not in the sense that is widely believed. Let us discover why there is so much confusion about hell.

From the original languages in which the Bible was written, one Hebrew word and three Greek words are translated "hell" in our English-language Bibles. The four words convey three different meanings.

The Hebrew word sheol, used in the Old Testament, has the same meaning as hades, one of the three Greek words translated "hell" in the New Testament.

The Anchor Bible Dictionary explains the meaning of both words: "The Greek word Hades...is sometimes, but misleadingly, translated 'hell' in English versions of the New Testament. It refers to the place of the dead...The old Hebrew concept of the place of the dead, most often called Sheol...is usually translated as Hades, and the Greek term was naturally and commonly used by Jews writing in Greek" (1992, Vol. 3, p. 14, "Hades, Hell").

Both sheol and hades refer simply to the grave. A comparison of an Old Testament and a New Testament scripture confirm this. Psalm 16:10 says, "For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." In Acts 2:27, the apostle Peter quotes this verse and shows that it is a reference to Jesus Christ. Here the Greek word hades is substituted for the Hebrew sheol.

Where did Christ go when He died? His spirit returned to God (Luke 23:46; see "The Spirit in Man" on page 14). His body was placed in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. The two passages, in Psalms and Acts, tell us Jesus' flesh did not decay in the grave because God resurrected Him.

Many scriptures that use the term hell in the King James Version are simply talking about the grave, the place where everyone, whether good or evil, goes at death. The Hebrew word sheol is used in the Old Testament 65 times. In the King James Version it is translated "grave" 31 times, "hell" 31 times and "pit"—a hole in the ground—three times.

The Greek word hades is used 11 times in the New Testament. In the King James translation, in all instances but one the term hades is translated "hell." The one exception is 1 Corinthians 15:55, where it is translated "grave." In the New King James Version, the translators avoided misconceptions by simply using the original Greek word hades in all 11 instances.

One word is for demon imprisonment

A second Greek word, tartaroo, is also translated "hell" in the New Testament. This word is used only once in the Bible (2 Peter 2:4), where it refers to the current restraint or imprisonment of the fallen angels, otherwise known as demons.

The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words explains that tartaroo means "to confine in Tartaros" and that "Tartaros was the Greek name for the mythological abyss where rebellious gods were confined" (Lawrence Richards, 1985, "Heaven and Hell," p. 337).

Peter uses this reference to contemporary mythology to show that the sinning angels were "delivered...into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment." These fallen angels are now restrained while awaiting their ultimate judgment for their rebellion against God and destructive influence on humanity.

The place where they are imprisoned is not some dark or fiery netherworld. Rather, their confinement is on the earth, where they wield influence over the nations and over individuals. The Gospels record that Jesus Christ and His apostles had very real encounters with Satan and His demons (Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 8:16-33; Matthew 9:32-33; John 13:26-27). Jesus even referred to Satan as the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).

The term tartaroo applies only to demons. Nowhere does it refer to a fiery hell in which human beings are punished after death.

Another word for burning—burning up, that is

Only with the remaining word translated "hell," the Greek word gehenna, do we see some elements people commonly associate with the traditional view of hell—but not in the manner portrayed in the hell of men's imagination.

Gehenna refers to a valley just outside Jerusalem. The word is derived from the Hebrew Gai-Hinnom, the Valley of Hinnom (Joshua 18:16). "Religiously it was a place of idolatrous and human sacrifices . . . In order to put an end to these abominations, [Judah's King] Josiah polluted it with human bones and other corruptions (2 Kings 23:10-14)" (Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, 1992, p. 360).

At the time of Jesus this valley was what we might call the city dump—the place where trash was thrown and consumed in the fires that constantly burned there. The carcasses of dead animals—and the bodies of despised criminals—were also cast into Gehenna to be burned.

Jesus thus uses this particular location and what took place there to help His listeners clearly understand the fate the unrepentant will suffer in the future. They would have easily grasped what He meant.

Immortal worms in hell?

In Mark 9:47-48, for example, Jesus specifically refers to Gehenna and what took place there. But without a proper historical background, many people draw erroneous conclusions as to what He said.

Notice His words: "It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell [gehenna] fire—where 'their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'" Any inhabitant of Jerusalem would have immediately understood what Jesus meant, since Gehenna—the Valley of Hinnom—was just outside the city walls to the south.

Without this understanding, people commonly end up with several misconceptions about this verse. Some believe the "worm" is a reference to pangs of conscience that condemned people suffer in hell: "'The worm that dieth not' was nearly always interpreted figuratively, as meaning the stings of envy and regret" (Walker, p. 61). Many believe that the phrase "the fire is not quenched" is a reference to ever-burning fires that torture the damned.

This scripture has been notoriously interpreted out of context. Notice that the phrase "their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" appears in quotation marks. Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 66:24. A proper understanding of His statement begins there.

The context in Isaiah 66 refers to a time when, God says, "all flesh shall come to worship before Me" (Isaiah 66:23). It is a time when the wicked will be no more. What will have happened to them? In Isaiah 66:24 we read that people "will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind" (NIV).

Notice that in this verse Jesus notes that the bodies affected by the worms are dead. These are not living people writhing in fire. When Jesus returns, He will fight those who resist Him (Revelation 19:11-15). Those who are slain in the battle will not be buried; their bodies will be left on the ground, where scavenging birds and maggots will consume their flesh.

According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (1980), the original Hebrew word translated "worm" in Isaiah 66:24 and Mark 9:47-48 means "worm, maggot, [or] larvae."

Neither Isaiah nor Christ is talking about immortal worms. The vermin of which they speak, maggots, would not die while maggots because, sustained with flesh to eat, they would live to turn into flies. The flies would then lay eggs that hatch into more maggots (the larvae of flies), perpetuating the cycle until there is nothing left for them to consume.

This background information helps us better understand Jesus Christ's words. In His day, when the bodies of dead animals or executed criminals were cast into the burning trash heap of Gehenna, those bodies would be destroyed by maggots, by the fires that were constantly burning there or by a combination of both. Historically a body that was not buried, but was subjected to burning, was viewed as accursed.

What does Jesus mean in Mark 9:48 when He quotes Isaiah in saying, "the fire is not quenched"? With the preceding background we can understand. He means simply that the fire will burn until the bodies of the wicked are consumed. This expression, used several times in Scripture, refers to fire that consumes entirely (Ezekiel 20:47). An unquenched fire is one that has not been extinguished. Rather, it burns itself out when it consumes everything and has no more combustible material to keep it going.

When are the wicked punished?

But, we might ask, when does this punishment take place?

As we saw earlier, Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah, who wrote of a time after the Messiah establishes His reign on earth. Only then would all humanity "come and bow down" before Him (Isaiah 66:23, NIV). Only then would this prophecy be fulfilled.

Jesus uses a common site of trash disposal in His day—the burning garbage dump in the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem's walls—to illustrate the ultimate fate of the wicked in what the Scriptures call a lake of fire. Just as the refuse of the city was consumed by maggots and fire, so will the wicked be burned up—consumed—by a future Gehenna-like fire more than 1,000 years after Christ returns (Revelation 20:7-15).

Peter explains that at this time "the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10). The implication is that the surface of the earth will become a molten mass, obliterating any evidence of human wickedness.

What will happen after that? The apostle John writes: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away" (Revelation 21:1). The entire earth will be transformed into a suitable abode for the righteous who, by that time, will have inherited eternal life.

The destruction of soul and body in hell

Another place where Jesus speaks of gehenna fire is Matthew 10:28: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [gehenna]."

We should notice that Jesus does not speak of people suffering everlasting torment. He says that God can destroy—annihilate—both the body and soul in Gehenna fire.

Jesus here explains that, when one man kills another, the resulting death is only temporary because God can raise the victim to life again. But when God destroys one in hell (gehenna), the resulting death is eternal. There is no resurrection from this fate, which the Bible calls "the second death."

The Bible explains that unrepentant sinners are cast into the lake of fire, or gehenna, at the end of the age. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

This verse and others like it show that the doctrine of universal salvation is false. Not everyone will be saved. Some will, in the end, refuse to repent—and they will suffer punishment. But that punishment is not to burn in fire without ending. Rather, it is to die a death from which there is no resurrection.

As we discussed earlier, the wicked will be destroyed. They will not live for eternity in another place or state of everlasting anguish. They will reap their destruction in the lake of fire at the end of the age. They will be consumed virtually instantaneously by the heat of the fire and will never live again.

The wicked burned to ashes

Another passage that graphically illustrates the utter destruction of the wicked is found in Malachi 4:1: "'For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,' says the LORD of hosts, 'that will leave them neither root nor branch.'"

The time setting is the end, when God will bring retribution on the wicked for their rebellious, reprehensible ways. To those who surrender to God and live in obedience to Him, God says: "'You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,' says the LORD of hosts" (Malachi 4:3).

God, speaking through the prophet Malachi, makes clear the ultimate fate of the wicked. They are to be uprooted like a nonproductive tree, leaving not so much as a root or twig. They will be consumed by the flames of the lake of fire, leaving only ashes.

The Bible does teach that the wicked will be punished by fire—but not the mythical hell of men's imagination. God is a God of mercy and love. Those who willfully choose to reject His way of life, characterized by obedience to His law of love (Romans 13:10), will die, not suffer forever. They will be consumed by fire and forgotten. They will not be tortured for all eternity.

Remember that eternal life is something that God must grant, and He will grant it to only those who repent and follow Him—not those who persist in rebellion against Him.

Realize that the final death of the incorrigibly wicked in a lake of fire is an act not only of justice, but of mercy on God's part. To allow them to continue to live on in unrepentant, eternal rebellion would cause themselves and others only great sorrow and anguish. God will not put them through that, much less torture them for all eternity in excruciating torment without end.

The encouraging truth of the Bible is that God is indeed a God of great mercy, wisdom and righteous judgment. As Psalm 19:9 assures us, "The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether."

Steve Myers

Steve is the Operation Manager for the Ministerial and Member Services department of the United Church of God. He is also an instructor at Ambassador Bible College as well as a host on the Beyond Today television program.  Together, he and his wife, Kathe, have served God and His people for over 25 years.

 
Heaven and Hell
God the Father
Dante's Inferno
sheol
hades
tartaroo
gehenna
Death