Bible Study Is Hell Eternal, Anhialation or temporary??

[Boyce]

So I've been struggling with the thought of a eternal lake of fire for those who didn't accept Jesus. I know there's bible verses that say hell is eternal and others that say sin leads to death, and the dead know no more.

I don't know much about this subject so I thought I would ask what your view on this is? It seems like one website says something and the other says something else..

 

[LovethroughDove]

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

 

[Willie T]

Good question.... I guess. I don't plan to find out.

 

[Pizza]

Matt 19:16—"And someone came to Him and said, 'Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?'"
What did Jesus say? Did He say, "You already have eternal life, everyone does - it's not about that, it's about where you will spend it." Most preachers today say that, but Jesus' recorded words in the Bible don't support that, IMO.

Matt 19:29-30—"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life."
Oh, wait, so we do'nt all have eternal life? If I do'nt have eternal life, how it is I am going to live forever in hell?

Matt 25:46—"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
This one almost sounds like it assures us that punishment in hell IS forever. But I'm unsure. If you are 'alive' somewhere, that is eternal life. How could being in Hell and conscious forever NOT be considered eternal life - eternal MISERY, but it is still 'life'.

John 3:16—"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so the choice is either to perish or have eternal life? Yea, that's what I've been saying all along.


But, believe what ever you want to believe - because, as with so much, the bible can be interpreted to support either position.
I don't know why He wrote it that way, but He did.

 

[Boyce]

Matt 19:16—"And someone came to Him and said, 'Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?'"
What did Jesus say? Did He say, "You already have eternal life, everyone does - it's not about that, it's about where you will spend it." Most preachers today say that, but Jesus' recorded words in the Bible don't support that, IMO.

Matt 19:29-30—"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life."
Oh, wait, so we do'nt all have eternal life? If I do'nt have eternal life, how it is I am going to live forever in hell?

Matt 25:46—"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
This one almost sounds like it assures us that punishment in hell IS forever. But I'm unsure. If you are 'alive' somewhere, that is eternal life. How could being in Hell and conscious forever NOT be considered eternal life - eternal MISERY, but it is still 'life'.

John 3:16—"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so the choice is either to perish or have eternal life? Yea, that's what I've been saying all along.


But, believe what ever you want to believe - because, as with so much, the bible can be interpreted to support either position.
I don't know why He wrote it that way, but He did.

I agree. God is not in the torture business, but in the love buisness. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life threw our Lord Jesus Christ." God knew us humans would fall, and I don't think 1,000 trillion ×1,000 trillion years of hell for around 60 years of sin is fair (hang on let's times that by another 900,000 trillion years of burning, maybe do that another thousand times... ) I don't think we are forced into this life then forced to choose eternal life or eternal hell. That sounds a but absurd.

 

[jasonc]

I agree. God is not in the torture business, but in the love buisness. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life threw our Lord Jesus Christ." God knew us humans would fall, and I don't think 1,000 trillion ×1,000 trillion years of hell for around 60 years of sin is fair (hang on let's times that by another 900,000 trillion years of burning, maybe do that another thousand times... ) I don't think we are forced into this life then forced to choose eternal life or eternal hell. That sounds a but absurd.

so how painless being burned alive? how painless was the deaths of men whom were buried alive by the earth? ever hear man being burned alive? it doesn't last long but that is sound and smell you wont forget.

 

[Boyce]

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

But Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life threw our Lord Jesus Christ? That's why I'm confused. One verse suggests something and the next says something else.

 

[Kathi]

Oh boy I am staying away from this thread like it is on fire.

 

[jasonc]

But Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life threw our Lord Jesus Christ? That's why I'm confused. One verse suggests something and the next says something else.

perhaps consulted By Grace would be a wise thing. she is fluent in the ancient usage of words in both Hebrew and the greek. I can post stuff on sheol all day long, some might like that site. or I can just yield to by grace. either way she will say what I will say most likely that the ancient Hebrew did believe in a place for the dead to reside in called sheol

 

[LovethroughDove]

But Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life threw our Lord Jesus Christ? That's why I'm confused. One verse suggests something and the next says something else.

Revelation 20:14-15 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.

There is a first death - our physical death and then there is a second death (called lake of fire, hell).

 

[Boyce]

Revelation 20:14-15 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.

There is a first death - our physical death and then there is a second death (called lake of fire, hell).

So why did God create a lake of fire? Couldn't God have created something a but more... gentle? Doesn't that sound a bit harsh for around 60 years of inhareted sin? Doesn't it sound crazy to be unwillfully created then forced to follow or not? Go get a match, light it and stick it under your finger for a few seconds, imagine that all over your body then imagine that pain never going away. ( I'm kidding don't really do this )

 

[jasonc]

So why did God create a lake of fire? Couldn't God have created something a but more... gentle? Doesn't that sound a bit harsh for around 60 years of inhareted sin? Doesn't it sound crazy to be unwillfully created then forced to follow or not? Go get a match, light it and stick it under your finger for a few seconds, imagine that all over your body then imagine that pain never going away. ( I'm kidding don't really do this )

he imho used a lake called the dead sea which burns with sulfur and brimstone to show that whatever the lake is that its not going to be a good place to go to. sheol has sulfur and brimstone imagery in the connotations of its usage by jews and in the lower levels.see luke 16 for that concept.

a literal fire wont harm satan.

 

[Malachi]

So I've been struggling with the thought of a eternal lake of fire for those who didn't accept Jesus. I know there's bible verses that say hell is eternal and others that say sin leads to death, and the dead know no more.

I don't know much about this subject so I thought I would ask what your view on this is? It seems like one website says something and the other says something else..

It would be best to get hold of Strong's Concordance and the KJV and go through every reference to "hell", "eternal" "torment" and "Lake of Fire". You cannot rely on web sites or the writings of commentators, but you can certainly establish the doctrine by searching the Scriptures. You will also notice that the English word "hell" has been applied to three different regions -- "Hades" (called Sheol in the Old Testament, which is the place of departed souls and spirits), "Gehenna" which is equivalent to "the Lake of Fire", and "Tartarus", which is the prison of evil spirits.

Yes, "the wages of sin is death" but there are two deaths in Scripture -- physical (the separation of the body from the soul and spirit) and eternal (the separation of unbelievers and evil doers from God in the Lake of Fire).

If you doubt the existence of an eternal place of torment, ask yourself why it would be necessary for the Son of God to suffer, shed His blood for our redemption, and offer Himself a sacrifice to God for the sins of the whole world, unless there was a real, awful, eternal Hell.

 

[LovethroughDove]

So why did God create a lake of fire? Couldn't God have created something a but more... gentle? Doesn't that sound a bit harsh for around 60 years of inhareted sin? Doesn't it sound crazy to be unwillfully created then forced to follow or not? Go get a match, light it and stick it under your finger for a few seconds, imagine that all over your body then imagine that pain never going away. ( I'm kidding don't really do this )

Matthew 25:41 "Then he 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.

Since we are eternal, he had to create something that is opposite of himself. Darkness cannot mingle with light.........that is called earth. In eternity, light is separate from the dark and everything that has to do with the devil and his angels.

 

[Malachi]

So why did God create a lake of fire? Couldn't God have created something a but more... gentle?

Boyce,
The Bible has the answers to all of your questions.
1. You and I have to begin with the absolute holiness and righteousness of God. The reason for the existence of eternal Hell is that sin and evil cannot be allowed to pollute and defile this universe for ever. There is a limit to their exisitence because God wants a holy and righteous universe, just as He himself is holy and righteous.
2. Disobedience and rebellion towards God is sin, and sin separates sinners from God eternally because of who He is.
3. God gave men and angels the freedom to choose righteousness and obedience or to disobey and suffer the consequences.
4. Both Satan and Adam and Eve disobeyed, therefore all human beings are sinners.
5. Hell was created for the Devil and his angels, but is also reserved for the ungodly and unrighteous.
6. Since God is absolutely just in all that He does, the eternal Lake of Fire is God's just punishment for sin and disobedience. He wants all sin and evil banished from this universe after a set period of time.
7. Since God is also absolute love, God loves all His human creatures, and He has provided a way to escape from Hell through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why He has commanded that the Gospel be preached to all nations and to every human creature.

 

[Malachi]

a literal fire wont harm satan.

Since Satan is a spirit being, Hell fire will certainly be literal, but also of such intensity and quality that spirit beings will suffer there eternally. Since no human being knows the exact nature of Hell, we must believe that God in His infinite wisdom has created a lake of torment which will cause both men and angels to suffer eternally.

 

[Malachi]

Oh boy I am staying away from this thread like it is on fire.

Why? People do need to know that Hell is very real and very eternal.

 

[LovethroughDove]

Oh boy I am staying away from this thread like it is on fire.

I was just going to say that this was a pun. It's on fire and we are talking about the fire.

 

[By Grace]

perhaps consulted By Grace would be a wise thing. she is fluent in the ancient usage of words in both Hebrew and the greek. I can post stuff on sheol all day long, some might like that site. or I can just yield to by grace. either way she will say what I will say most likely that the ancient Hebrew did believe in a place for the dead to reside in called sheol

Why are you trying to get me into trouble here? Deliver me from evil, Lord.

OK, now I have had my fun, let's look at these for a way out of this, OK?


1. Hell will be a place of unquenchable fire
Matt. 3:12; 13:41–42; Mark 9:43
2. It will be a place of memory and remorse.
Luke 16:19–31
3. It will be a place of thirst.
Luke 16:24
4. It will be a place of misery and pain.
Rev. 14:10, 11
5. It will be a place of frustration and anger.
Matt. 13:42; 24:51
6. It will be a place of separation.
Rev. 2:11; 20:6, 15
7. It will be a place of undiluted divine wrath.
Hab. 3:2; Rev. 14:10
8. It was originally prepared for Satan and his hosts.
Matt. 25:41
9. It will be a place created for all eternity.
Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:46; Jude 7


Willmington, H. L. (1987). Willmington’s book of Bible lists (pp. 133–134). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.

I recommend that readers commit to these verses, then perhaps cut-and-paste them into a word processor, and study them for a few days. THEN discuss things. However, as a basic foundation, remember that the Bible never contradicts itself, but only us humans can do that because we see through a glass darkly.

 

[Obadiah]

Good luck to you. I think the last thread on this subject was the one that went something like 2500 posts and was no closer to an answer than it was at post #1, but a few people found them selves on the receiving end of the rolling pin for the way they behaved! I sure hope this one goes better.