But what the Bible teaches about hell is not limited to those verses in which the word “hell” appears. The annihilation view on hell have tried to do this, claiming only the 13 verses in which “hell” occurs are valid. They noted that the words “eternal” or “everlasting” are not in those verses, but “destruction” is. This is like reading only the first line of a paragraph on a subject in which the name appears and ignoring the rest of the paragraph which uses prepositions instead. The hermeneutic principle is context, not just appearance. There are passages on the final judgment and eternal destinies with features that match those of hell, and scholars have identified the subject as hell, even though the name itself is absent:
Mt 3:12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He
will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat
into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire.” (Also Lk 3:17)
Mt 13:42 and will throw them into the furnace of
fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mt 13:50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire;
in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mt 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart
from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been
prepared for the devil and his angels;
Mt 25:46 These
will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life.”
Rev 14:10-11 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath
of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and
he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of
their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no
rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and
whoever receives the mark of its name.”
Rev 19:10 And the devil who deceived them was
thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast
and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever.
Rev 19:20 And
the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed
the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had
received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image;
these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
Rev 20:10 And the
devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented
day and night forever and ever.
Rev 20:15 And
if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was
thrown into the lake of fire.
I have not listed secondary verses on “weeping and
gnashing of teeth” or “outer darkness”, nor OT passages with the Hebrew word “sheol”,
or NT passages with the Greek word “Hades”, as there are enough here for
us to consider. The primary verses listed inform us the following about hell:
The
Lord will separate the wheat (the fruitful) from the chaff and burn up the
latter in unquenchable fire (Mt 3:12);
Those
thrown into the furnace of fire are the tares (sons of the evil one Mt 12:38)
and the wicked (Mt 12:49), where they will suffer remorse and anguish (Mt
13:42, 50);
The
accursed ones will go into eternal fire to suffer eternal punishment (Mt 25:41,
46);
Hell was
prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41), but those who worship the
beast (the Antichrist) and receive his mark will join them there (Rev 14:10-11,
19:20);
The
devil, the beast and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire and
brimstone to be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev 19:10, 20,
20:10), but so will anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life
(Rev 20:15).
Q. I asked a pastor what’s his position on hell
because I have never heard him preach on the subject, nor could I find anything
in his church’s statement of faith on the website. He said there are different
schools of thought among evangelicals on how they interpret hell. Since he wants
to be inclusive in reaching all people, he doesn’t want to alienate anyone by preaching
on this controversial topic. What’s your view?
A. My view on hell? Or my view on the pastor’s
stance? Before I tell you my view, let’s review what the Bible says about hell.
The word hell appears 13 times in 13 verses in the NASB. (I use
the NASB as it is one of the most literal English translations from a
word-for-word perspective.)
Mt 5:22 But I say to you that everyone
who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever
says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme
court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Mt 5:29 If your right eye makes you
stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose
one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown
into hell.
Mt 5:30 If your right hand makes you
stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one
of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
Mt 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the
body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
Mt 18:9 If your eye causes you to
stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life
with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.
Mt 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one
proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Mt 23:33 You serpents, you brood of
vipers, how will you escape the sentence ofhell?
Mk
9:43-44 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to
enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.]
Mk 9:45-46 If your foot causes you to
stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your
two feet, to be cast into hell,[where their worm does not
die, and the fire is not quenched.]
Mk 9:47-48 If your eye causes you to
stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with
one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
Lk 12:5 But I will warn you whom to
fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire,
the very world of
iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire
body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
2 Pet 2:4 For if God did not spare
angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved
for judgment;
All 11 verses in the Gospels are spoken by the Lord
Himself. “Hell” translates the Greek word “geenna”, which is the place of the future punishment called
“Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”. This was originally the Valley
of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city
were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future
destruction.
Jas 3:6 does not refer
to the fate of the wicked. 2 Pet 2:4 translates the Greek word “tartaroo”, the name of the subterranean region, mournful
and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where
they suffer punishment for their evil deeds; it answers to Gehenna of the Jews.
Our observations from the above consist of:
Hell is where the guilty (Mt
5:22) are sentenced (Mt 23:33) and reserved for judgment (2 Pet 2:4);
It is a place of unquenchable
fire (Mt 5:22, 18:9; Mk 9:43, 44, 46, 48) where the worm never dies, but also
darkness (2 Pet 2:4);
The whole body and soul are
cast into hell (Mt 5:29-30, 10:28, 18:9; Mk 9:43, 45, 47);
God is the One who cast the
guilty into hell (Mt 10:28; Lk 12:5; 2 Pet 2:4).
RayKLiu 