Hell
A Christian speaker, John Chapman, was explaining the Christian message to a large group of students. He mentioned hell. Immediately a girl stood up and interrupted, saying,
“Are you trying to scare us into becoming Christians by speaking about hell?”
Chappo astutely replied,
“You are asking the wrong question. What you should be asking is whether there is a hell to be scared about!”
The following message was sent to me in response to an article entitled ‘What every person should know,’ which was written to explain the Christian message.
“I do NOT believe that anyone is eternally punished in hell. Those who fail to submit to Christ will have to go through further trials or refinement but eventually all will be well.”
The doctrine of an eternal separation from God for those who reject his rule does, at first sight, appear to conflict with the concept of a God of love – but does it?
God’s character
The character of God is clearly described when he spoke to Moses on mount Sinai,
“And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished . . .’” Exodus 34:6
Although God is loving and gracious, there is a limit to this love.
We can have no first hand knowledge about what happens to us when we die unless God has revealed some information to us, and this he has done.
Jesus’ teaching
Jesus, the Son of God, epitomised this love, yet he spoke more about God’s judgment and hell than anyone and is he not the greatest authority on this question? He said to the religious, but hypocritical, Pharisees that had rejected him,
“ You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” Matthew 23:33
Jesus told to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount that sin has very serious consequences,
“If you right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Matthew 5:29
“And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:30
There is a significant difference in the wording here. In the first example, the person who flirts with sin is forced into hell but in the second example, the person goes there of their own accord because they refused to allow Christ to deal with the sin in their lives.
Jesus contrasts the judgment made by human authorities to that of God,
Anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ (an Aramaic term of contempt) is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Greek ‘fire of Gehenna’)’ Matthew 5:22
The reason Jesus entered his world was to give people the opportunity of avoiding eternal separation from God.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Jesus compared hell to the Valley of Hinnon near Jerusalem which in his time was a huge rubbish dump where continually smouldering fires were common. This place was also called ‘Gehenna.’ Jesus likened hell to ‘a fire’ over twenty times.
It is very significant that most of Jesus’ teaching on hell was told to his disciples. Surely this was to wake them and us up to the urgency of the church’s mission to save people from hell.
Jesus told a powerful story about a rich man who, in the next life, found himself rejected by God and in hell. Here he clearly teaches that there is an eternal separation between an eternal heaven and an eternal hell. The Bible teaches that all people are eternal beings; after this life we all will rise again to face God in judgment and only those who have been credited by God with the gift of ‘righteousness’ can exist in the presence of the righteous God.
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31
Jesus teaches that life in ‘hades’ or ‘hell’ is a very unpleasant experience, - the word ‘agony’, and ‘place of torment’ keeps being repeated. The rich man, who significantly is not named, asked Abraham, as representative of God’s people, to ‘have pity on me’. Abraham replies that there is nothing he can do as there is a fixed gulf separating God’s people from those in hell. The message is clear. After death there is no opportunity to be given eternal life however much it is wanted.
“. . . between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” Luke 16:26
The opportunity to accept God’s forgiveness remains only for our lifetime. God does not wish anyone to be eternally separated from him but he has given us all freewill. Peter reminded his readers of this in his final letter, written shortly before his execution,
“He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
The rich man then demonstrates the urgency there is for sharing the message about the offer of salvation to all people. When he realised that he was beyond help he pleaded for a messenger to warn his family so that they could avoid his fate. He pleads that Lazarus be sent to the family home to speak to his five brothers. He doesn’t want them to land up in ‘this place of torment’.
Abraham’s response is striking – he says that they have the word of God which clearly warns that all people will face God’s judgment. This is the same today. Doubtless the rich man’s family had access to God’s word even if they never read or listened to what it said.
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.” Luke 16:29
The man who had been rich suggests that the Bible is not enough for his family. He thinks they need a supernatural experience such as a resurrection to wake them up!
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’” Luke 16:30
This is the poignant part of the story. Jesus told this account to a group of Pharisees ‘who loved money’ like the rich man (Luke 16:14). He foresaw that even his own resurrection would not cause them to repent and turn to a personal submission to God through his Son.
“He said to them, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’’ Luke 16:31
Being a member of God’s body, whether being Jewish or a member of a church, does not guarantee salvation. They may appear to be members of God’s kingdom but in god’s eyes they are not.
“But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:12
Jesus is very clear that a future judgment awaits us all.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory . . . All nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. . . then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels . . . then they will go to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. Matthew 25:31-46
It is significant that the same Greek word translated ‘eternal’ is used to describe the fate of the sheep and the goats – both heaven and hell are, according to Jesus, eternal.
The lesson Jesus wants everyone to learn is that we must all turn back to God before it is too late.
Jesus clearly teaches that there is a hell to be scared of. So the next questions must be, ‘What authority does Jesus have?’ ‘Did he rise from the dead?’ and ‘Is he God’.
How our society needs God’s word to be clearly taught today. We don’t need religion, we need evidence based answers. When a woman onlooker cried out praising the woman who had brought up Jesus, who was Mary, he curtly responded by saying,
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28
Old Testament
When God created man he made him from physical chemicals, from ‘dust of the ground’, but he also gave him life. This is clearly a distinct entity from the life animals had, it is surely spiritual life, eternal life, that all men have been given. The rest of the Bible teaches that this life will either be spent in harmony with God or in rebellion against him. Those who are spiritually dead can be given spiritual life but we are all eternal beings.
The whole of the Old Testament, starting with Adam’s rebellion against God, centres on God’s anger at sin and its consequences. Isaiah summarised this reaction of God:
“You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved.” Isaiah 64:5
The common word used for ‘hell’ in the Old Testament is ‘sheol’ but precisely what this referred to, beyond being the place the departed go to, is not defined. However Isaiah frequently describes the fate of those who rebel against the Lord; it will be in a place of torment,
“All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.” Isaiah:14:11
“‘There is no peace’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’” Isaiah 48:22, 57:21
“You will lie down in torment.” Isaiah 50:11
New Testament
God’s anger at our rebellion against himself remains a consistent theme. This is why Jesus was so angry at the Pharisees who refused to recognise him – they were rejecting God.
In the New Testament the Greek word, ‘hades,’ is used to translate the Hebrew word, ‘sheol.’ It is the abode of the dead in the underworld. ‘Gehenna’ is the word most commonly used in the New Testament to describe ‘hell’. It describes a place of punishment and, as mentioned above, was taken from the valley of Gehenna, south-west of Jerusalem where garbage was burned, and lepers and outcasts used to roam around as vagrants looking for scraps of food. No wonder it was associated with being a wretched place of ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’.
“It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell (gehenna), where the fire never goes out. . . It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be throne into hell, where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’” Mark 9:43-48
Here Jesus is quoting from the end of the book of Isaiah when the judgment of the spiritually dead is described,
“ . . . all mankind 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.” Isaiah 66:23-24
Once Peter uses the Greek word ‘tartarus’ for ‘hell’. This was a word for a subterranean place of punishment lower than ‘hades’. He described ‘tartarus’ as a wretched place that any facing God’s judgment will find themselves in:
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell (tartarus), putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people . . . if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly . . .if this is so, then the Lord knows how to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment” 2 Peter 2:4-9
In the book of Romans, God’s anger against sin is mentioned ten separate times and is a persistent theme.
“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. . . But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” Romans 2:5,8
The words used to describe the fate of those who are rejected by God at the judgment vary. Paul speaks of ‘everlasting destruction,’
“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord . . .” 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
The writer to the Hebrews gives the following warning to those who once accepted God’s truth but then turn their backs on Jesus,
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. . . It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26-31
Jude describes the fate of those who turn their backs on God and disobey him in two graphic ways:
“In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” Jude 7
“They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame, wandering stars, for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever.” Jude 13
John’s book of Revelation describes the fate of the devil and his followers in awesome terms,
“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:10
Those who have departed this life whose names are not found in the ‘Book of Life’ will share this fate,
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14-15
Symbolism
There are such wide variations in the descriptions of hell in the Bible that these must be symbolic of a dreadful ill-defined torment. There are several different analogies in the Bible that describe hell – all are very unpleasant. It is seen as a place of fire, of scorpions, of beatings, of darkness and there will be great gnashing of teeth. Hell is a tormented state to which those who have willingly rejected God’s rule will be consigned.
Jesus tells us that he wants all of us to be with him in the new earth where he rules, but that hell also exists and is eternal for those who reject his love.
G.K. Chesterton once remarked,
“Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human personality.”
God is saying to each of us,
“You are significant. I take you seriously. Choose to reject me -- choose hell if you will. I will let you go.”
We are free to choose our fate
Truth matters
Why does the Bible stress that we will all face God in judgment and that our eternal destiny will either be with him or separated from him? Just as a good surgeon will have to warn a patient of serious pathology and the need for life-saving surgery, so a good and loving God cannot conceal this unpleasant truth. He longs for all people to accept the salvation he offers. We reject his offer at our peril. God’s word gives us ample warning and the life, death and resurrection of Jesus gives ample evidence that we must take note of the path we are on. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that the road most are on leads to hell:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate, and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13
Elsewhere Jesus emphasised that he alone is the gate that leads to life:
“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. . . . I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.” John 10:1-7
There is a sense in which hell is getting what people have chosen. If a person rejects God all their life, never turning back to him in repentance, then that person will die and enter eternity without God.
There have been some who deny the teaching of hell and who cannot understand how a God of love would permit such a fate. Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christadelphians teach that after the judgment those who have rejected God will somehow be destroyed. Such people are described as ‘annihilationists’. Such teaching goes against the teaching that our destinies are eternal and that all people are immortal spirits.
Others believe that after serving time in Gehenna everyone will be reconciled to God and removed from hell. This is a form of ‘universalism’ which suggests that all people will eventually be saved.
However, in contrast, John’s gospel gives us a good summary of the Biblical position,
“Whoever believes in the son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” John 3:36
One notable feature of those who deny the existence of hell is that their longing to share the gospel with others is limited. The Bible teacher R.A. Torrey has noted,
“If you in any way abate the doctrine of hell, it will abate your zeal.”
Jim Packer, the Biblical theologian, has concluded,
“The New Testament always conceives of this eternal punishment as consisting of an agonizing knowledge of one's own ill desert, of God's displeasure, of the good that one has lost, and of the irrevocable fixed state in which one now finds oneself. The doctrine of eternal punishment was taught in the synagogue even before our Lord took it up and enforced it in the Gospels. All the language that strikes terror into our hearts -- weeping and gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, the worm, the fire, gehenna, the great gulf fixed -- is all directly taken from our Lord's teaching. It is from Jesus Christ that we learn the doctrine of eternal punishment.”
The great Anglican bishop of Liverpool similarly urged people to be clear about what the Bible teaches.
“A flood of false doctrine has lately broken in upon us. Men are beginning to tell us ‘that God is too merciful to punish souls for ever...that all mankind, however wicked and ungodly...will sooner or later be saved. We are to embrace what is called ‘kinder theology,’ and treat hell as a pagan fable...’ This question lies at the very foundation of the whole Gospel. The moral attributes of God, His justice, His holiness, His purity, are all involved in it. The Scripture has spoken plainly and fully on the subject of hell... If words mean anything, there is such a place as hell. If texts are to be interpreted fairly, there are those who will be cast into it...
The same Bible which teaches that God in mercy and compassion sent Christ to die for sinners, does also teach that God hates sin, and must from His very nature punish all who cleave to sin or refuse the salvation He has provided. God knows that I never speak of hell without pain and sorrow. I would gladly offer the salvation of the Gospel to the very chief of sinners. I would willingly say to the vilest and most profligate of mankind on his deathbed, ‘Repent, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ But God forbid that I should ever keep back from mortal man that scripture reveals a hell as well as heaven...that men may be lost as well as saved.”
A new Christian was on a plane and was seated next to a sceptic. He noticed that she was reading from the Bible and asked if she believed it?
“Yes,” she replied
“Jonah and the whale story?”
“Yes.”
“How did that happen?”
“I don't know, but I'll find out when I get to heaven.”
“What if Jonah isn't there?”
“Then I guess you'll have to ask him for me!”
This is a tough doctrine and we must be very careful how we talk about it. The Christian theologian and apologist Francis Schaeffer was speaking to an intelligent group of young people in his chalet in Switzerland. They admired their teacher’s ability to engage Biblically with culture. They discussed so many topics that night until one young man asked Schaeffer this question.
“What about those who have never heard the gospel?”
They waited expectantly for the incisively brilliant answer. But Schaeffer did not speak. Instead he bowed his head. And he wept.
BVP
Addendum
Perhaps I could summarise why I hold to the traditional view that hell is eternal. As there are some who dislike this doctrine, preferring the idea of ‘annihilation,’ it has encouraged me to dig deeper into Scripture and its use of words as, according to Jesus, Scripture must be our ultimate authority.
The word ‘aionios’ is used 70 times in the New Testament and is usually translated ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting’. An example of its meaning can be seen in 2 Corinthians 4:18 where it is contrasted with ‘proskairos’ which literally means ‘for a season’ or ‘temporary.’
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:128
‘Aionios’ is commonly used of people and things that are endless. such as Romans 16:26 where it refers to God; 1 Timothy 6:16 where it refers to God’s power, 1 Peter 5:10 where it refers to God’s glory and Hebrews 9:14 where it refers to the Holy Spirit of God. God is certainly eternal and endless and ‘aionios’ is the word used to describe this.
In Hebrews 9:12 it is used of the redemption won by Christ for his people,
“ . . but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained an eternal redemption.”
The word is also used of the salvation of God’s people – this is eternal.
“ . . . he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him . . .” Hebrews 5:9
“ . . . and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:11
When the birth of Jesus was announced to Mary, she was told,
“ . . . he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:33
Those who ‘believe in Jesus’ are promised eternal life,
“ . . . that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:28
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:1
When Christ returns,
“For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will all be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-53
Consequently when Jesus uses this same word ‘aionios' to describe the fate of those who have rejected him as,
“They will go away to eternal punishment,’
he contrasts this with
“but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:46
‘Aionios’ should therefore be interpreted in the same way for believers as unbelievers, it is just that our destinies are different.
‘Aionios’ is also used of the sin that will never be forgiven (Mark 3:29), of the judgment of God from which there is no appeal (Hebrews 6:2) and of the eternal fire (Matt 18:8 and 25;41). Jude 7 also describes this 'eternal fire,’
“They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” Jude 7
Jesus said of this fire that it will never be extinguished,
“It is better to enter life maimed, than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.” Mark 9:43
It therefore seems from the way the word ‘aionion’ is used throughout the New Testament that it mean ‘endless’. Paul described hell in such terms,
“They will be punished with an everlasting destruction and shut our from the presence of the Lord . . .” 2 Thessalonians 1:9
Hell is nowhere described in the Bible as being temporary, but is, like heaven, eternal. Its purpose is not remedial but the result of a deliberate choice.
I hope this makes it clear why I take the position I do. I have never heard such arguments countered well - so often the argument for annihilation is based on what ’so and so’ thinks. We must surely stand by the clear use of words in Scripture.
