According to a 2004 Gallup Poll, 70% of Americans believe in hell. Belief in hell is highest among regular churchgoers: 92% of those who attend church weekly believe in hell, as do 74% of those who attend nearly weekly. In Christian theology, hell is the place or state into which unrepentant sinners pass after this life. Hell is generally thought to be eternal, and to include both punishment and separation from God. Although not central to the Christian faith, the doctrine of hell has been a significant part of historical Christian theology throughout its history. For some, however, hell has also been a major stumbling block to acceptance of Christianity. Some Christian groups no longer believe in an eternal hell, or at least regard belief in it as unnecessary. The word "hell" in English Bibles is used to translate the Hebrew word Sheol (and its Greek equivalent Hades) and the Greek word Gehenna. The English word derives from the Anglo-Saxon meaning "to conceal" or "to cover," which is similar to the meanings of Sheol and Hades. In the Old Testament, Sheol (which is also sometimes translated "grave" or "pit") denotes the underworld or the place of departed spirits. "The notion reflects an undeveloped and shadowy belief in the future life which was gradually superseded by the more defined beliefs of later Judaism." Gehenna ("the Valley of Hinnom") is the Greek translation of a Hebrew word that seems to refer to an actual place on earth. The identity of Hinnom is not known for certain, but scholars have suggested an area southwest of Jerusalem near the Cedron. Gehenna is mentioned in Jos. 15:8 and 18:16, and in 2 Kings, it is described as a place of human sacrifice (16:3, 21:6) that was polluted (23:10-12). Jeremiah warned that one day would be renamed "Valley of Slaughter" (Jer. 7:32, 19:6). A statement dating to 1200 AD that fires were continually kept burning in the Valley of Hinnom is generally regarded as reliable, although no earlier reference has yet been found. The idea of hell (as understood in Christianity) is virtually absent from the Old Testament, which has very little to say about the afterlife at all. A possible mention of hell in the Old Testament is this prophecy about the end times: "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2, NIV) Another notable passage that likely contributes to Christian imagery of hell is Isaiah 66:24, which also refers to the end times: "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. Other passages that speak of the afterlife seem to indicate extinction of the soul after death (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Rabbis have generally taught the existence of a hell-like place for the unrighteous, but many Jews, both historical and modern, do not believe in hell or an afterlife. In the New Testament, the notion of hell is more clearly expressed, but still not in a systematic way. In many cases, "death" and "destruction" are the only mentioned penalties for rejecting God (Matthew 7:13, John 3:16, Acts 4:12, Romans 6:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, James 1:15). Also, the same terminology is often used in the New Testament that in the Jewish context may have suggested nothing more than physical death and destruction of the soul. New Testament passages that have suggested eternal torment to Christians include the following: "Anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matthew 5:22, quoting Jesus) "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 5:29, quoting Jesus; see parallel passage in Mark 9:44, which adds, "where the fire never goes out.") "Do not be afriad of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28, quoting Jesus) "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:40-42, quoting Jesus) "Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:30) "Then he [the King] will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Matthew 25:41) "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." (James 3:6) "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 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 20:13-15) "The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile...the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulpher. This is the second death." - Revelation 21:8. Modern Christian views of hell tend to emphasize its spiritual aspects over the notion of physical suffering or material fire. Hell is seen as a logical extension of the free will of mankind to reject God's gracious advances, even for eternity, and its punishment as a realization of one's mistake and the great remorse that would follow. Many modern Christians also question hell's eternality in favor of some form of universalism (all are saved in the end) or annihilationism (wicked souls are destroyed). Following is a sampling of the positions of various Christian denominations on the issue of hell. It is impossible to describe the glory and splendor of heaven and the terror and torment of hell. Whether taken literally or figuratively, the meaning is the same: Hell is a place where one will experience total separation from God; heaven enjoys the total presence of God. Knowing that this is the horrible end awaiting the wicked, the Assemblies of God is strongly motivated to win the lost before it is too late. (Assemblies of God) To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell." (Catechism of the Catholic Church) The statement of Christ in Matthew 25, and elsewhere, are taken at face value. It is believed that after death each man must come before God in judgment and that he will be judged according to the deeds done while he lived (Hebrews 9:27). After judgment is pronounced he will spend eternity either in heaven or hell. (Churches of Christ) We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly believe in, and obediently follow, Jesus Christ our Lord; and that the finally impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell. (Church of the Nazarene) This hope for the final salvation of humanity and the eternal universal restitution of all things in heaven and on earth ... is drawn from the unlimited promise of the Gospel and the magnitude of God's grace made known to the world through Christ. (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead; of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord; of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment. (Evangelical Free Church of America) The moral progress of the soul, either for better or for worse, ends at the very moment of the separation of the body and soul; at that very moment the definite destiny of the soul in the everlasting life is decided. ... The Orthodox Church believes that at this moment the soul of the dead person begins to enjoy ... the life in Paradise or to undergo the life in Hell. There is no way of repentance, no way of escape, no reincarnation and no help from the outside world. (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America) One of the most common beliefs that we have today is a belief in an afterlife and in most religions a belief in a heaven. If one were to ask at random, people outside Christianity, where they will go after death, almost unanimously, it's heaven. And while heaven is each person's preference, we know that this isn't true. Everyone is not going to be able to go there. One of the most repugnant subjects is the opposite end, which is hell. Is there a Hell? Hell is a place no one likes to talk about, much less go there, however, Jesus spoke more on hell than on heaven and had very strong warnings to keep people He loved from going there. As Christians, we are constantly challenged to prove what we believe, not only from the Bible but with logic and rationale. How many times have you heard, "How can a loving God send people to hell?" or "I can't believe in a place of everlasting punishment." I personally encounter this a lot and I'm going to attempt to give some reasons why not only is hell a reality as much as heaven is, but that God's love actually demands a place such as this. Jesus spoke more about hell than all the writers of Scripture. 13% of the New Testament is on Judgment and hell, and half of the parables. Hell is describe as a place of constant fire and smoke. Now I think we're all familiar with the descriptive terms of fire that continues to burn, where the worm does not die and that it's outer darkness, as in Matt. 25:30 "And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Away from the presence of God. In Matt. .13:49-50 Jesus tells us the angels will separate the wicked from the just and cast them into the furnace of fire. Hell is described as a garbage dump by Jesus to illustrate some points (this is called Gehenna where the corpses of animals were thrown. As complete darkness Matt. 8:12 "cast into outer darkness." Where exactly does the Bible say hell is? The Bible describes it as down, Psalm 55:15, Proverbs 15:24, Isaiah 14:9, speak of it being beneath. The angels that sinned in Noah?s day were cast down 2 Peter 2:4. Many other Scriptures describe it as underneath, while God is up in heaven. Heaven is upward, hell is down. It's also described as outer darkness, yet, God is described as light. These are relational terms of contrast, yet, they are literal. It's a place at the end of the road that everyone travels on, going away from God. It's also described as a bottomless pit, no security. It's like free falling forever. Jude describes hell like a wandering star in the blackness forever, no course or direction, no end. Luke 16 is not a parable but a story, it uses name that no parables use and it is giving specific information about the afterlife. It tells us it's a place of agony and self rejection, the rich man asked for only a drop of water to quench his insatiable thirst. He still had concern for his family and felt pain for himself. It's described by the rich man in his remorse asking to warn his family, yet he is told they will not believe even if someone (Jesus) would rise from the dead and tell them so. This is how great their unbelief was! We see the rich men is still giving orders telling Abraham to send Lazarus, who was an invalid in life and the rich man did not care at all for, now he asking him to do him a favor. Hell is not just a place deprived of God's presence or blessing. Now, where does the Bible describe hell as a torture chamber? Well, actually it doesn't. It's not Dante's Inferno with Devils poking people with pitchforks. God is not into torturing people himself either (neither is the devil, or the fallen angels as they will be in torment too). If those of us who received Christ as our substitute for our sin have everlasting life with Him, then those who will suffer away from Christ will have eternal suffering. The same word for eternal is used for both the wicked suffering and the just living with God. If the punishment of the wicked is only temporary as secessionists say, then there will come a day when God will no longer exist! Because the same descriptive term is used for eternal life and eternal punishment is used for the eternal God. There was recently a report produced by the Doctrine of Commission of the Church of England titled "The Mystery of Salvation," and on addressing the doctrine of heaven and hell, hell was described as non being, in other words, annihilation. This can only come from disguising the literal words of Scripture to mean something other than they plainly mean. And it's not unusual for those inside the evangelical church to question the concept of eternal punishment. While we may wrestle with this, we have to eventually submit to the Scriptures and what they clearly state. They teach greater and lesser punishments for the works of the wicked and what they've done (Matt. 25:46, 2 Peter 2:9). All speak of the day of reckoning of judgment. Punishment will be dealt with different increments. Would it be fair of God to inflict on everyone, even people that did some good, the same punishment as the Devil or the false prophets. Would it be fair if a regular person was punished just as Hitler who killed indiscriminately. No of course not! God is just and will meet each with a fair judgment. Luke 12:46-48 tells us the difference between servants who obeyed and disobeyed, Where one will be given few stripes another many in punishment. For the Pharisees who took advantage of widows and showed off their religion publicly they will receive the greater condemnation. Matt. 23:14. Luke 12:4-5: "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into hell, yes, I say to you, fear Him!" Jesus is saying that death of the body is not the end of ones existence. Matt. 11:23-24: "And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." All these statements show that God will treat all in judgment with different degrees of punishment. Some claim that the lake of fire is just a illustration of the grave and the dead go there. The best example of this not being true is the beast and the false prophet are thrown in the lake of fire alive Revelation 19:20-21: "But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf......The two of them were thrown alive in the fiery lake of burning sulphur." Clearly showing this is not the grave of the dead. Satan is later captured by an angel and bound captive being put in the worst part of this location. While there are some groups and cults that say God annihilates people, that they somehow cease to exist after they die, this teaching is clearly unbiblical. The antichrist who is a man is resurrected after he is killed by Jesus? second coming and then cast into the abyss (hell). In Rev. 20:7 Satan is alive and spends 1,000 years only to be let out again to lead one last rebellion and to be judged proving this is not annihilation. The angels who sinned in the time of Noah, are held in reserve in chains for judgment in the abyss (Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4). They clearly are waiting for judgment day. Obviously they do exist as spirits and so does man after he dies. God does not annihilate people, He respects the creatures he created and their own choice so much that he will never take their life away. He's not going to take their consciousness away either because they didn't go His way. The question comes up, if He doesn't annihilate, why doesn't He just reform them instead of punish them when they're disobedient? It's like being classed with infants and domestic animals. To be punished ever severely because we have deserved it, that we should know better, it is to treat us as humans made in God's image. It is immoral to force reformation on someone against their will so a reformatory concept is really what is inhumane. Punishment is the most humane and loving thing God can do. Justice demands punishment for those who hurt others and break eternal laws. There is no eternal reformatory, but there is a temporary one which is called life. In a lifetime, if one does not reform, repent and go God's way, then the day of reformation is over and the day of justice and punishment begins, which will last longer than a billion lifetimes. Remember when the demon possessed man cried out in Matt. 8:29: "And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the appointed time? So even the spirits who once knew God are afraid to go to this place. Rev 20:10 "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." It clearly does not say annihilated! Hell is an eternal penal institution with no release. Eternal sin must be treated justly with eternal consequences. Since sin is against an eternal God and sin's effects are also eternal, the punishment therefore must have eternal consequences. So we find that hell is part of God's justice and to understand God's justice we first need to understand that a law without any consequences is just good advice. If there is a moral standard that God sets it's for a reason. It is then an absolute standard because it relates to His character and His being, and it's from His very nature that this standard flows. One can receive mercy as a pardon for what they have done or refuse it and get the punishment they deserve. We can see the wicked prosper in our world today and justice is not paid by those who live this wicked type of lifestyle that the Bible condemns, so there must be a time when it will be paid and justice will prevail. God has put off the judgment until a certain time. So we all, good or bad, in Christ or not, are enjoying the benefits of His time of grace. It's by His mercy, the Bible says, that each and every day, we are not consumed. Paul says all are under condemnation and are without excuse in Rom. 1:18-20. He continues in Romans 2:1-8, by saying we are all guilty of the same we judge others of, "But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness-- indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, there will be wrath and anger." Romans 2:16: "This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ,....." Now, those who refuse God's love will be totally out of place in heaven. People can?t stand hearing about God and Jesus Christ in conversation with you, now. So how will these same people be comforable in heaven with us praising God for his work? Imagine those who hate to worship God, and learning about Him, and then they end up in heaven in an eternal church meeting with everyone else loving God, who are thanking Him that saved them from their sins. Now this would be hell for them. They're more apt to be comfortable away from God then with Him. If they look with disdain on what He is all about now and do not want to love Him now, how will they be able to love Him later? God's solution will be to give them what they want. God will not violate the free will of a person and force his convictions to change. He does not force people to modify their beliefs and behavior to coerce them into the kingdom. God works through man's dignity, not violating it. Our choices have consequences and sometimes they're eternal consequences. God's love demands a hell. Imagine a man proposing to a woman in marriage and the woman refuses saying I respect you, I admire you, but I am not going to marry you. Then he comes to her and proposes to her again and she declines. He comes to her again and proposes and she declines. And then the man says I love you so much I'm going to force you to marry me. That relationship would not be operating by love, forced love is really not love at all. God's love is persuasive, it's convincing, but it's never coercive. He's not going to put your arm behind your back and force you to do what's right. He's going to allow you to have the freedom of choice, yet he will give you all the proof one needs to be convinced that He is love. God is longsuffering in His love, patient, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. So the choice is really up to us, it's ours to make. It's an eternal choice which we cannot change once we die. There are no shotgun weddings in heaven, but there will be a great divorce for those who refuse to enter into a vow and a covenant with God and Christ. If there is no heaven to gain or hell to shun, justice would not prevail in the universe. If there is final judgment there is a Hell. The Bible teaches the dead will be raised to give an account and then punished. So there has to be a final separation for wickedness. We find evil is unable to be contained, it's easily spread. This cannot be said for godliness, which is not easily spread. We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth at which time evil will cease. Evil will be totally removed from those of us who are going God's way, who love God, and who have been born again into His kingdom. Sin has taken its effect on this world and its people and we are told in Scripture that all creation groans in travail for the day when all this will be removed. Hell shows the nature of sin and the great cost of salvation, it shows the very love of God. By the cross we see how hideous sin is and how much more powerful Gods' love is. This is the very reason that Jesus died, to save people from their sins. Death is the penalty of sin, the body dies and the soul becomes separate from the creator who gave them life. If there is no eternal consequences to sin then the crucifixion is robbed of its very significance. Jesus suffered in vain and it would not have been necessary for Him to die for our sins. Yet, God the father said there is no other way, that Christ is the only way. Jesus, who was truth incarnate, warned us, if your hand offends you, cut it off, it was better for you to go to heaven maimed than to go to the unquenchable fire whole, or with two arms. Jesus was not speaking in a literal sense but using extreme examples to make the point on how serious Hell is. Was He putting a non-existent fear in us for over two thousand years? Of course not. Fear can actually be a good motivation because it leads to the preservation of one's life or soul. The Bible tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, that if we want to understand what wisdom and knowledge is, it begins with a healthy respect and fear of God because He is in control and he deals justly. However we need to be as the evangelist D.L. Moody who said, "when we speak of Hell, have a tear in your eye and a quiver in your voice." If one denies the existence of hell and the doctrine of eternal punishment, they are actually denying the teachings of Jesus. Jesus affirmed that Jonah was swallowed by a fish, and He also affirmed that there was a flood that covered the whole earth, and He said that Adam and Eve were really created. So we must take His teaching on Hell as literal also if all these other teachings are literal. Don?t certain evil people deserve judgment such as Adolph Hitler or Osama Bin Laden. They can escape mans law, but they, nor no one else who ever lived will escape breaking God's law. If there is no Hell you can do whatever you want and there will be absolutely no consequences for it. There will be no difference for a Hitler or a Saddam Hussain and the non-believer or atheist. Hell is the only thing that satisfies the demand for the ultimate justice. The ultimate triumph of good over evil demands such a place as hell. The thing that bothers good people is evil and the thing that bothers evil people is good. When good people are around those who are doing evil it frustrates them, it stumbles them, because they know what is right from wrong. Evil people who are around good people that are trying to do what is right in the Lord's eyes (are stumbled because we are salt and they actually end up saying terrible things about God because of the way we live). God has a solution for this dilemma, a final separation of good and evil, a place where no evil can bother good people. For those who have rejected the Lord, there will be no more good people to frustrate them, they won't be around them anymore. What is hell going to be like? One thing for sure Hell is not a place of eternal sunburn. The Bible describes it as darkness, loneliness, thirst, torment, a place where we would not want even our enemies to go to. Torment is not torture. It is to be separated from Gods love and goodness for an eternity. Before one is saved from their sins they are already separated from God in relationship, but not in certain respects from his goodness or grace. Those who will be there will become acutely aware of their creatureness and fallen state. They will know their sin and its effect on themselves as they are self afflicted. They will understand their selfish ways and self idolatry and will gnash their teeth. They will understand there is a God and experience eternal judgment. Their whole consciousness will be engulfed in sinfulness and will not be able to get away from their nature. It will be like an itch and not being able to scratch it. It will be a mental and emotional torture that they will not be able to be removed. It will be darkness with no relief . God knows that no one who goes to eternal separation and punishment would really change their mind, they are bent on their own way. Only those who are unretrieveable, unrepentant, unredeemable, those who have their one way decision, with an irreversible mind set will be there. Yet hell is more than just eternal separation from God! Everyone who is a sinner, the devil and his angels are presently separated from God and they enjoy it. They are in this state now and not in hell. While hell is separation this is only one aspect of the consequences of going there. Hell is the absolute final punishment for those who refused to turn from ruling and ruining their own lives with their own sin nature. In Rev. 20 we find the small and great from all time standing before the throne, resurrected in the bodies they committed their sins in, only to face a greater terror. What they received prior in torment in their spirit will be even more. There's probably been billions of people from all time that went to their eternal destiny without Christ. And today we're surrounded by people who will do the same. People who are now in hell were once alive like you and I. They had the chance to make the same choice that we have today. God never sent anyone there except those that reject the light that they already have, all people have a witness and are without an excuse. Romans 1:19-20 tells us about God's witness in creation. So everyone has creation as a testimony that God exists, and are without excuse. The Biblical principle is sequential for God to reveal himself to all people. If they do not respond to the light they already have, God is not responsible to give them more light. Yet, if one responds to the knowledge that the Lord has given them, they will be led out of the darkness into His kingdom, His marvelous light. It's our choice to respond either to the general revelation that is all around us or to the specific revelation which is His word. God pleads with people who are going the opposite way to turn toward Him and become reconciled to Him through His Son's death. When we open our eyes in the after life it will only reflect what we have done in this life. We can either bless Him for His grace or despise him for the judgment we brought upon ourselves. So how does one escape their punishment for sin and not submitting to the God who loves them? By Believing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hell is avoidable. Just as a doctor offers you a cure for a disease, if you refuse to take, you cannot blame him, its not his fault you are sick. Jesus offers everyone the cure for the disease of sin, God is working to get your attention to take it.
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