How can a just God sentence people who commit finite sins to infinite punishment in hell fire, without parole?

Question

The Bible says even those who tell lies shall be cast into the lake of fire. Thus the same punishment is prescribed for all types of a sin. Can anyone conceive of a judicial system that prescribes death penalty for all crimes and misdemeanor? Death for even traffic offenders? How just would such a system be?

Answer 1

The word “hell” is found in many Bible translations. In the same verses other translations read “the grave,” “the world of the dead,” and so forth. Other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language words that are sometimes rendered “hell”; that is, they express them with the letters of our alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew she’ohl′ and its Greek equivalent hai′des, which refer, not to an individual burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek ge′en·na, which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction.

Does the Bible indicate whether the dead experience pain?

Eccl. 9:5, 10: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol,* the place to which you are going.” (If they are conscious of nothing, they obviously feel no pain.) (*“Sheol,” AS, RS, NE, JB; “the grave,” KJ, Kx; “hell,” Dy; “the world of the dead,” TEV.)

Psalms 146:4: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts* do perish.” (*“Thoughts,” KJ, 145:4 in Dy; “schemes,” JB; “plans,” RS, TEV.)

Does the Bible indicate that the soul survives the death of the body?

Ezekiel 18:4: “The soul* that is sinning—it itself will die.” (*“Soul,” KJ, Dy, RS, NE, Kx; “the man,” JB; “the person,” TEV.)

“The concept of ‘soul,’ meaning a purely spiritual, immaterial reality, separate from the ‘body,’ . . . does not exist in the Bible.”—La Parole de Dieu (Paris, 1960), Georges Auzou, professor of Sacred Scripture, Rouen Seminary, France, p. 128.

“Although the Hebrew word nefesh [in the Hebrew Scriptures] is frequently translated as ‘soul,’ it would be inaccurate to read into it a Greek meaning. Nefesh . . . is never conceived of as operating separately from the body. In the New Testament the Greek word psyche is often translated as ‘soul’ but again should not be readily understood to have the meaning the word had for the Greek philosophers. It usually means ‘life,’ or ‘vitality,’ or, at times, ‘the self.’”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1977), Vol. 25, p. 236.

Why is there confusion as to what the Bible says about hell?

“Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception.”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.

Translators have allowed their personal beliefs to color their work instead of being consistent in their rendering of the original-language words. For example: (1) The King James Version rendered she’ohl′ as “hell,” “the grave,” and “the pit”; hai′des is therein rendered both “hell” and “grave”; ge′en·na is also translated “hell.” (2) Today’s English Version transliterates hai′des as “Hades” and also renders it as “hell” and “the world of the dead.” But besides rendering “hell” from hai′des it uses that same translation for ge′en·na. (3) The Jerusalem Bible transliterates hai′des six times, but in other passages it translates it as “hell” and as “the underworld.” It also translates ge′en·na as “hell,” as it does hai′des in two instances. Thus the exact meanings of the original-language words have been obscured.

Is there eternal punishment for the wicked?

Matthew 25:46, KJ: “These shall go away into everlasting punishment [“lopping off,” Int; Greek, ko′la·sin]: but the righteous into life eternal.” (The Emphatic Diaglott reads “cutting-off” instead of “punishment.” A footnote states: “Kolasin . . . is derived from kolazoo, which signifies, 1. To cut off; as lopping off branches of trees, to prune. 2. To restrain, to repress. . . . 3. To chastise, to punish. To cut off an individual from life, or society, or even to restrain, is esteemed as punishment;—hence has arisen this third metaphorical use of the word. The primary signification has been adopted, because it agrees better with the second member of the sentence, thus preserving the force and beauty of the antithesis. The righteous go to life, the wicked to the cutting off from life, or death.")

What does the Bible say the penalty for sin is?

Romans 6:23: “The wages sin pays is death.”

After one’s death, is he still subject to further punishment for his sins?

Romans 6:7: “He who has died has been acquitted from his sin.”

Is Eternal torment of the wicked compatible with God’s personality?

Jeremiah 7:31: “They [apostate Judeans] have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart.” (If it never came into God’s heart, surely he does not have and use such a thing on a larger scale.)

Illustration: What would you think of a parent who held his child’s hand over a fire to punish the child for wrongdoing? “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Would he do what no right-minded human parent would do? Certainly not!

What is the origin of the teaching of hellfire?

In ancient Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs the “nether world . . . is pictured as a place full of horrors, and is presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness.” (The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston, 1898, Morris Jastrow, Jr., p. 581) Early evidence of the fiery aspect of Christendom’s hell is found in the religion of ancient Egypt. (The Book of the Dead, New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1960, with introduction by E. A. Wallis Budge, pp. 144, 149, 151, 153, 161) Buddhism, which dates back to the 6th century B.C.E., in time came to feature both hot and cold hells. (The Encyclopedia Americana, 1977, Vol. 14, p. 68) Depictions of hell portrayed in Catholic churches in Italy have been traced to Etruscan roots.—La civiltà etrusca (Milan, 1979), Werner Keller, p. 389.

But the real roots of this God-dishonoring doctrine go much deeper. The fiendish concepts associated with a hell of torment slander God and originate with the chief slanderer of God (the Devil, which name means “Slanderer”), the one whom Jesus Christ called “the father of the lie.”—John 8:44.

Revelation 21:8 (King James Version) says clearly that “the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” means “the second death.” Death is said to be hurled into this lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14, 20) Death obviously cannot be literally burned. Those thrown into the lake of fire undergo “the second death.” (Revelation 20:14) In death there is no consciousness and, hence, no feeling of pain or suffering.—Eccl. 9:5.

If you would like further information or a free home Bible study, please contact Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org

Answer 2

Thank you for this question.

I would like to add to what Muhammad (last answer) just said. Please remember that in Islam the worst sin is what we call Shirk, that is worshipping anything other than, or in addition to Allah. This one sin is the only unforgiveable one according to the Quran.

And what he said is also true, that the good you do is counted ten times while the bad you do is counted only once. Even then when the scale tips toward hellfire you are only there until you sins are burned away. In the end you will end up in the garden. Just a matter of when.

Also, in Islam there is no one who intercedes for you. You have to take a personal responsibility for your actions on Earth. This includes gaining knowledge of your religion so that you can perform it properly, treating others kindly, speaking out against injustice, helping the poor and needy and treating animals well.

And Allah knows best.

Peace and Blessings,

Salim

Answer 3

Technically He doesn't. He paid the price for the sin of mankind at the cross. All you need do is accept it. John 3;16. Romans 10;9.
Because He is a just God He knew the penalty had to be paid, and
because He is a God of love, He paid the penalty himself in the form
of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus. just knowing this wonderful news,(Gospel) makes me want to live better.
I Corinthians 13;8a, Love never fails!!!!!
9-25-6

Answer 4

The Bible doesn't condemn anybody to feel fire for eternity. It condemns those to perish, eternally. This is the second death.


Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.


Sodom and Gomorrha are no longer burning, when hellfire has done its work, it will cease.


Mal 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Mal 4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.


Why do those who inherit the earth after the wicked are destroyed, walk over the ashes of the wicked?

Eternal hell is a greek myth, its sad that protestants believe in it now when many reformers didn't. If this interests you, email me on [e-mail]

Answer 5

God knows what he's doing and he's not going to arbitrarily sentence people to eternal damnation.

No one can determine who's going to hell and who's not. All we can do is objectively state that certain offenses constitute sins that are capable of warranting hell.

Jesus Christ is the merciful one who will personally judge all mankind.

If you can't leave your fate in his hands, than you do not have faith, and are already in big trouble.

Answer 6

in islam we have this punishment, but differently i suppose. eternal damnation in hell is only for those who refuse to believe in the one true God. any other sin is forgivable. in other cases you only go to hell if your sins surpass your good deeds in amount. but note that a good deed is accounted as 10 good deeds (at least) while a sin is accounted only once. also if you repent then you are forgiven. if you follow a minor sin by a good deed then you erase it. so just like the prophet said (i translate the meaning from arabic): you shall all go to heaven, unless you refuse :)

Answer 7

these are all empty threats, by clergymen who pretend there is a "god", never to be fulfilled, since the culprits do not exist once they die.