To Be Least

On a forum one person read my post on this blog on hell and shared his beliefs on hell. I responded with what I believe to be true based off of scripture. Enjoy.

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He said :

BloggingTeen: I guess I'll have to wait until after the 4th before I get a reply but I'll ask now while I'm thinking about it. I read your entry of June 19th, entitled "No Hell?" with interest and noticed that you were STILL deceived as to what hell is, what it will be, and who it was intended for and what happens in it. You are MISTAKEN in your beliefs but this is not a surprise. After all, you're only 15 and have not had much time to do much studying of scripture.

However, the first place to start would be to read again CAREFULLY the verses that you posted and to NOTICE that they do NOT say what you have been taught to believe they say.

By the way, I wanted to post a comment at your site but I was not sure how to do so. I tried clicking on both "Comments" and "Trackback" and nothing seemed to happen. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to how I can respond there.

At any rate, the verses that you posted used the phrases "EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION" and "DESTROY BOTH BODY AND SOUL". For some inexplicable reason, you interpret DESTRUCTION as ETERNAL LIFE in hell.

Next, you quote a parable of Jesus (Lazarus and the Rich Man) that has nothing to do with hell and is actually a prophecy concerning Himself. If one reads this parable with logic and reason (or guidance from the Holy Spirit), he will quickly discover that this is not (and CANNOT be) a literal description of hell and/or actual events. Just like all of the other parables of Jesus, it was designed to HIDE its true meaning from ALL who it had not been given to know:

Lk. 8:10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “`though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ [Isaiah 6:9]

After that parable, you quote Rev:20:15 but you leave out a critical part:

Re. 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

Notice that it is called the SECOND DEATH! What are the wages of SIN? DEATH! No confusion, here. The TWO choices that God has offered from the very beginning are LIFE or DEATH:

De. 30:15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.
...De. 30:19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

Next, you quote 2Peter 2. Verse 2:4 uses the term "gloomy dungeons' which other manuscripts have as "chains of darkness". This definitely doesn't describe a hellfire, does it? It more correctly describes a pit or a grave.

Then, it recounts the story of Noah and the Flood. What happened to Noah? He was SAVED...he received LIFE! What happened to those who missed the boat? They PERISHED...they received DEATH!

This is followed by an account of Lot and Sodom. What happened to Lot? He LIVED! What happened to the rest of the inhabitants of Sodom? They DIED in the fire and brimstone that rained down upon them. Notice:

2Pe. 2:6 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;

Now compare that verse with these:

Mal. 4:1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that
is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty.

It should be abundantly clear from these verses (and hundreds more) that the "eternal punishment" promised to unrepentant sinners is DEATH and NOT ETERNAL LIFE in hell. And isn't this in keeping with a MERCIFUL God? I mean, after all, we shoot horses, don't we?

What would you think of our government if we continuously tortured (for the rest of their lives) our guilty? Would you not call any government which did so INHUMANE? Yet, for no reason, so many people BELIEVE that God is just such a monster. Satan, as scripture declares, has surely DECEIVED the WHOLE WORLD!

Join us which dare to REJECT the lies as SPEWED OUT by organized religion kept CAPTIVE by Satan's deceptions. If your heart is pure, it won't take long before you discover just how many lies have been foisted upon an unsuspecting laity.

May God open the hearts and minds of all who read this post. If Christianity is EVER to be a LIGHT unto the world, it must rid itself of the doctrines of devils and men and REESTABLISH itself as a purveyor of TRUTH.

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      I am in agreement with you on the idea that Christianity must tell the Truth. This Truth can be found in the Word of God, the Bible. All Christians should not rely on the doctrines of men, but on the Word of God. Keeping this in mind, I will begin to look at the scriptures to find the truth about hell.

"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 and from the majesty of his power." (1 Thess. 1:8-9)

      This verse addresses two questions. Who goes to hell and what will happen to those in hell? The answer to the first question is simply " those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel." (v. 8) Again, the answer to the second question is plain and clear. "They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power." (v. 9)
      How can destruction be everlasting as this verse states? Notice, it does not say that those in hell will be destroyed, but will go through "everlasting destruction." So those in hell will go through destruction without ever being completely destroyed.

"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Mt 3:12)

      Here God will separate the righteous (symbolized by wheat) from the unrighteous (chaff). The righteous will go to heaven and the unrighteous will be burning up in "unquenchable fire." The fire represents suffering. However, this suffering can not be stopped because it is unquenchable. Again, it does not say that the unrighteous will be completely burnt up, but that they are burning.

"And they 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 66:24)

      When you read the first portion of this verse, it seems clear that people in hell are dead (as you believe). However, it goes on to say that their "worm will not die." When a body is decaying their are worms and maggots that feast on the flesh. Normally, the maggots would die when the body is completely eaten because their source of food would no longer exist. Here, however, the maggot does not die. So the body is always decaying (and being eaten away by worms), while never completely ceasing to exist. However, one should not take this as a literal description of hell. What this describes hell as a place where people will be going to intense suffering that will never end.
      It also says that those in hell will not have their fire quenched. This is very simply. Like Matthew 3:12, here the suffering will not be stopped. In both cases, the truth is evident. Hell is a place of eternal suffering.

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Mt. 25:46)

      When read in context, the word "they" is referring to the unrighteous or the "goats." So the righteous will go to eternal life, but the unrighteous will go to eternal punishment. Eternal meaning never ending and punishment meaning punishment. Very clear.

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out." (Mark 9:43)

      Once again, this verse shows that hell is a place where the suffering never stops.

"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2)

      Some will go to heaven, which is everlasting life. While others go to hell which is everlasting contempt. Hell is everlasting.

      In Revelations, it talks about the lake of fire (hell). Satan will be thrown in the lake of fire, as with all who are not saved. Satan will be "tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Rev. 20:10) This supports that conclusion that those in hell will be eternally punished.

      You quoted 2 Peter 2:6 where you tried to support your belief for the annihilation of those in hell. A few verses later it say this:

"Then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment." (2 Peter 2:9)

      Contrary to your statements, 2 Peter clearly shows that those in hell will not die. God will "hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment," which clearly contradicts the idea that those in hell will cease to exist. It shows exactly the opposite, those in hell will continue to exist. This verse also says that God will do this "while continuing their punishment." Once again, God will continue their punishment. They will continue to exist while being punished.

"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)

      Although I just pointed out your error by not reading the complete section in 2 Peter, this verse further exposes your grave error. Although Sodom and Gomorrah did indeed die, those in hell "suffer the punishment of eternal fire." Those is hell are being punished with eternal suffering.

You said :

It should be abundantly clear from these verses (and hundreds more) that the "eternal punishment" promised to unrepentant sinners is DEATH and NOT ETERNAL LIFE in hell. And isn't this in keeping with a MERCIFUL God? I mean, after all, we shoot horses, don't we?

      When we as humans, shoot horses it is an act of mercy. By quickly ending it's life we are stopping it's suffering which would lead to death. However, when God puts people in hell it is not an act of mercy, but an act of judgment. He is punishing those who have not obeyed His commands. So, unlike shooting horses, when God throws people into hell He is punishing their disobedience, not showing mercy to them.
      However, God is merciful. He showed mercy to the entire world. How? He sent His only Son, Jesus, down to this earth to die for the world's sins and to rise back to life. It was because of God's mercy that we have a chance to have eternal life if we believe in Jesus Christ. "In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 3)

      The truth has been set before you. The Word of God makes a clear and concise case for the existence of eternal punishment for those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel. Each of us deserve this punishment. Thanks be to God, who in His mercy allows us to spend eternity with Him through his Son, Jesus Christ.