Hell in a Nutshell
The topics of Hell and the
Afterlife are extremely complex. Thus this website has numerous
articles exploring the many facets of the topics as they
appear in the Bible and in popular culture.
But it is understandable that
some readers don't have the time to carefully read through all
of this material "right now." They may prefer to start with one
single article which provides a quick overview of the "bottom
line" conclusions that are presented in the rest of the
website's articles. This kind of approach can be misleading,
since it cannot adequately allow for clear explanations of how
these conclusions were derived. However, if it comes down to a
choice of either getting the barebones "basics in a nutshell" or
surfing off to another website immediately, at least the
contents of that nutshell may provide enough food for thought to
encourage further examination of the other articles on the site.
So here, in a nutshell, are "just
the facts."
Overview of Goals
This website offers a careful
examination of the "whole counsel of scripture" regarding the
nature of Hell. It also provides an extensive historical
overview of some of the sources of the common beliefs about
Hell. The goals of this examination and overview are:
- To persuade readers that
most of the common assumptions regarding the nature of Hell
in Western culture, both secular and Christian, are not
supported by the Bible itself.
- To encourage readers to do
an independent study of the topic for themselves and come to
their own conclusions about the matter.
- To free readers from the distorted view of some of the
aspects of the character of God that the standard assumptions about
Hell have fostered.
Overview of the Typical Standard
Assumptions About Hell
Modern Christianity is not one
monolithic belief system accepted by all who choose to label
themselves Christian. It is a highly fragmented collection of
thousands upon thousands of denominations and individual
independent religious organizations. These may vary widely in
their perspective on doctrinal matters. Thus there is no way to
present an overview of Hell or any other doctrine that perfectly
reflects the many variations in beliefs among them. However,
there are numerous elements to a description of Hell that tend
to be typical across a wide spectrum, from Roman Catholic to
Protestant to non-denominational Charismatic groups. The list
below, while not definitive for any particular group, is an
attempt to offer a general composite of the most
widely-accepted beliefs about the nature of Hell among
traditional, theologically conservative Christians.
In these circles:
What Does the Word Hell Mean?
Hell is the English
translation of a number of Hebrew and Greek words that
describe various aspects of a single place of permanent
confinement for the souls of all humans who die without
having become Christians.
Who Goes to Hell?
- The souls of dead people who
did not truly accept Jesus as Savior before death are sent
to Hell immediately after death, and are confined there
throughout eternity.
- It is not necessary for someone to have been presented
clearly with the claims of the Christian faith, and have
consciously rejected them, to receive condemnation to Hell.
- All non-Christians, no matter what their excuse
(including Jews who worship God, believe the Old Testament,
and strive to live by the Ten Commandments) go immediately
to Hell upon death.
- Some Christian groups allow for very young children, who
die before what they refer to as the "age of
accountability," to escape Hell. However, no biblical basis
for any specific age is offered. Since the profession of
faith in Jesus by children as young as six is accepted as
proof of "conversion" and assurance of Heaven in many
circles, the logical conclusion is that children that young
can also be "lost" and thus consigned to Hell.
Where Is Hell and What Is It Like?
- Hell is in a specific
location. Although not all accept the notion, it is typical
to perceive it as being somewhere far below the surface of
the Earth.
- The environment of Hell is characterized by searing hot flames in
darkness, although in some scenarios it also has sections
that are numbingly cold.
- Sometimes Hell, or parts of Hell, are described as
a "bottomless pit," and sometimes as a "river" or "lake" of
flames.
- Many descriptions of Hell include vile physical smells such as
sulfur and human excrement.
What Do the Souls of the Dead Experience
in Hell?
- These souls are conscious of
their surroundings and their experiences in Hell.
- These experiences consist of
permanent torture and torment, and although each soul is no
longer "physical," it can perceive the pain of this torture
in a manner comparable to the way a living human body
perceives pain. And it experiences mental and emotional
torment in a manner comparable to the mental and emotional
anguish of living humans.
- All in Hell suffer to a certain extent because of the
flames ... they may just feel unbearable heat, or may
actually be continually burnt within the walls of flame,
feeling the pain but never being consumed by the fire.
- Additional torture may be suffered by each individual
that is customized to their personal life history. For
instance, a habitual liar may have his tongue ripped out,
have it grow again, and have it ripped out again ... over
and over for eternity.
Who Administers the Tortures in Hell?
- Satan the Devil is the "CEO"
of Hell, supervising all of the torture.
- Satan is assisted in these activities by "fallen angels"
who acted with him in rebellion against God at some time in
the distant past. These beings are now called demons, and
appear in various hideous and grotesquely distorted humanoid
or animal-like forms.
- Both Satan and his demons relish their jobs, and are
gleeful as they torment the human souls.
Why is a Never-Ending Hell for Human Souls
Necessary?
The Bible states that the
reward of those who are saved by the blood of Jesus is to
exist eternally in the presence of God. Therefore it is
logical to assume that the "opposite" of this is to exist
eternally separated from Him.
Why is Never-Ending Torture for Human
Souls Necessary?
Each and every sin ever
committed is one of the reasons that Jesus had to die on the
cross. His death and suffering was horrible beyond
comprehension. Therefore the justice of God requires that
each and every sin that caused it deserves punishment. For
those who accept Jesus' sacrifice, the punishment due the
person for each of his sins was taken by Christ on Himself,
and thus was forgiven. But without the blood of Jesus to
cover a sin, the sin is never forgiven, and the guilt
remains. One can be punished for it one day, and yet the
guilt which remains requires punishment the next day again,
and the next, and so on into eternity. And since everyone
has a huge number of sins in their record, each one of them
requires punishment. This means that the cumulative
punishment rises to the level of extreme tortures. This is
required by the perfect justice of God.
Overview of the Premises of This
Website
The articles on this website are
offered in evidence to refute the statements above. Below is a
brief overview of some of the conclusions that these articles
collectively reach.
What Does the Word Hell Mean?
Hell is the English word chosen
by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible to
translate several different, unrelated words. At times, these
translators ignored the significance of these words in their
original languages and contexts. Instead, they inserted the
traditional Roman Catholic view of the fate of lost souls by use
of the English word, which had developed totally unbiblical
connotations by the time of the translation.
Sometimes the Hebrew or Greek
words actually imply the physical grave. Sometimes they imply a
place of imprisonment for supernatural beings--the Devil and
demons. Sometimes they imply not a location, but the "state" of
the dead, one of being unconscious to the activities of the
physical world, and perhaps even of a sleep-like unawareness of
anything, waiting for awakening at a time in the future of the
world known as the "resurrection."
Who Goes to Hell?
This depends on what Hebrew or
Greek word one is referring to that the KJV translators chose to
render as "hell." Every human who has ever lived and died has
gone to the kind of "hell" that is actually "the grave." The
Bible says that another kind of hell is a place where rebellious
angels have been confined.
Where Is Hell and What Is It
Like?
Some KJV passages which use
the word hell are speaking strictly of the physical grave
where a dead body is placed. Others are speaking of a
metaphorical state of death. Still others are speaking of an
ultimate destination at some time in the future when all
created beings that are not in harmony with God will be
destroyed. Although described vividly as a "Lake of Fire,"
there is no requirement that this be taken as literal
physical flames.
What Do the Souls of the Dead Experience
in Hell?
There is no description in the
Bible of "souls" enduring torture for eternity in the Afterlife.
A number of passages seem to indicate that both those who are
destined to
inherit eternal life and those who are cut off from God are
waiting in a state of oblivion for a "resurrection"--a bringing
back to life--before they experience anything. A few
passages seem to indicate that such souls have some type of
perception of their surroundings during this waiting period,
but these are inconclusive when considered alongside the
many passages which seem to indicate otherwise. In no case
is there a description of some sort of specific permanent
physical-like torture that such souls must endure.
Who Administers the Tortures in Hell?
There is no biblical indication that any
human souls receive never-ending torture in any kind of Hell. One of the
words translated as Hell in the KJV is an indication of a place
where the Devil and his underlings will be for a time. But they
are not there to torment humans--they are there as a place of
confinement.
Why is an Ever-burning Hell for Human
Souls Necessary?
It isn't. The insistence that
the "opposite" of conscious life eternally in God's presence
must be conscious life eternally outside God's
presence is not supported by sound logic. Those who teach
this have come to the conclusion that an ever-burning Hell
exists through misunderstanding of what the whole counsel of
scripture on the topic reveals. Once they have accepted the
existence of such a Hell as an unquestioned assumption, they
have felt obligated to go back and attempt to find "logic"
to support the assumption so that they can explain it to
others. This is a misuse of the principles of reasoning.
Why is Never-Ending Torture of Human Souls
Necessary?
The most significant "fall-out"
of the standard beliefs about Hell is the necessity to envision
a God whose character is one of constant, never-ending
vengeance, and who countenances torture and torment far beyond
that indulged in by history's worst despots, sadistic felons,
and cruel taskmasters. IF the standard views of Hell are clearly
established in the Bible, then it is indeed necessary to find
ways to justify how a loving, merciful God could conceive it
necessary to endlessly torture people for eternity as
"recompense" for whatever sins they committed in a short
life-time. But IF the standard views are not supported from
scripture, and instead are built on a foundation of human
speculation, fables, uninspired writings, and perhaps even the
twisted desire for vengeance in the minds of carnal men, then
painting God as requiring such is utterly blasphemous.
It is beyond the scope of this
brief overview to provide the reasons from scripture and logic
which support the statements above about this alternate view of
Hell. Each statement is a distillation of the conclusions
established by examination of scriptures and application of
logic in articles throughout this website. For the full picture
of this approach to the doctrine of Hell, use the
Reading Guide to follow a
systematic exposition of the topic. See details on this below.
This site contains a collection
of articles, on the topic of Hell and the Afterlife, that may
each be used independently for research purposes. But it also is
designed as a systematic, sequential overview of the whole
topic, which can be read like a book.
For those who would like to take
advantage of this perspective of the content, the articles are
arranged in the
Reading Guide as they would appear as chapters in a book, along
with a few reference chapters at the end such as would appear in
a book Appendix.
Use the
links below to go to the next article, previous article, or
first article
in the Reading Guide sequence.
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PLEASE
NOTE:
No single short article can comprehensively cover
any aspect of the topic of Hell. If you have
questions or concerns regarding the material in this
article, be sure to first read through the site
FAQ before writing to the
author. It may already specifically address the very
points you are wondering about.
Unless otherwise
noted, all biblical references in this and other articles on the
Is It True What They Say About Hell? website are from the
New International Version (NIV).
All of the articles on this
Is it true what they say about Hell? website were written by Pam Dewey, with
the support and sponsorship of Common Ground Christian
Ministries. For more of Pam's inspirational and educational
writings, visit her Oasis
website.
All website content
© 2007, Pam
Dewey and Common Ground Christian Ministries
All rights reserved. Material may
be copied for personal use of the site visitor. For permission
to copy for any other purposes, please contact the author at
oasis7@gmail.com
