Is Hell only an eternal separation from God or is it an eternal lake of fire?

Question

Some have said that Hell is a place that exists without God. A place of eternal separation from Him. While others have stated that it is a place of eternal torment and fire.

Answer 1

"If there was a vote in hell as to who should be kicked out of hell, overwhelmingly God would be voted out because God is the one who makes hell hell" RC Sproul in the series Foundations

the phrase eternal separation from God is more like eternal separation from the benefits and enjoyment of God
God is everywhere
God is in heaven and in hell
God is the rewarder and the punisher
God is the highest treasure and centerpiece of heaven
God is the one whose wrath makes hell hell
Saying less would be to sugarcoat the situation

the phrase eternal separation form God is not a bad phrase, but can be misconstrued. When God uses it in Isaiah "The Lord's arm is not so short that is cannot save nor is his ears so dull that he cannot hear but your sins have made a separation..." it doesn't mean God isn't there , it means sins have alienated you from the God who you live before the face of always whether in life or death. The separation is not from God, which is impossible, but from the enjoyment of God

God is merciful and both good and wrathful. If someone glorifies God leaning on the work of Jesus on the cross believing for eternal life then the wrath is satisfied and only good intension remain. If someone dies without the atonement, only the wrath remains. One will enjoy God forever and one will not

Answer 2

Fire is a symbol throughout the bible for judgment. Whether there is actual fire in hell or not is questionable or whether "lake of fire" is just symbolic of a place where God's total judgment exists. The main aspect is as you say an eternal separation from God. But when you think of that you realize that it means that all that is good that emanates from God will be taken away. There will be no love, no kindness, no joy, no peace or patience or goodness or gentleness, but only bitterness and anger and wrath. Regardless of what is there it will not be a pleasant place to spend eternity.

Answer 3

I have seen some curious explanations here: Hell a/k/a Two-Part Hades – the place of Hell and Paradise, a/k/a the common grave of mankind divided into parts: the air conditioned part a/k/a the bosom of Abraham a/k/a paradise a/k/a the first level of hell, and the painful part a/k/a the dead part, a/k/a the part where Satan is holding onto some keys. Some people deny that Jesus went to hell despite the scripture plainly saying so in Acts. Others say he did but only because of prophecy; still others say he had to go in order to get the keys. Some people say hell is a place of protection, yet Satan was there with some keys. Others say Jesus was sort of busy collecting some keys (these keys are fascinating) and some souls; yet Acts says Jesus was resurrected. Resurrection is for dead people, not living people. And Ecclesiastes 9:5 says dead people are conscious of absolutely nothing. Since that is so, I am a little confused as to how you can dart around collecting keys and souls without being conscious or alive. And if Jesus went there to collect some keys (these keys still fascinate me) from Satan, does that mean Satan was in the air conditioned side? Or was Satan on the painful side and Jesus caught a cab? And when he caught the cab, did Jesus leave the souls on the air conditioned side or did they ride with him? How much easier it is to simply accept the Bible’s teaching on such matters rather than reduce simplicity to these convoluted and tortuous explanations that defy logic, reason and God himself. Hades is the word that is so often translated as Hell. It conjures up Dante's Inferno but scripturally, Hades is the same as the Hebrew Sheol: it is the common grave of mankind. It is where all humans go upon death. It is a place of inactivity. Since dead people are there, it is why one can be resurrected. That is why Revelation 21 says that hell (hades) gives up those DEAD - because people who are there get a resurrection. Hannah J Paul

Answer 4

Hello people, first I’d like to mention that Webboffin and Whirlingmerc had very insightful descriptive answers, to this question check it out. Now for my response, no one in my opinion can say for a fact what Hell is like, has anyone been there, if so let me know. Ok enough jokes, in my belief Hell is not eternal, each human being is born and has a soul. We live our lives here on earth and have a vast of life lesson’s trials and tribulations until we die. Our soul goes to the light, “yes” like in the movie “ghost” and there we are greeted by family members who have pasted on and or angels or spirit guides, it all depends on your beliefs and what you want to see when your dead, it’s all custom to how you worshiped on earth. Than you have a life reading and go through all the moments from your life and judge yourself on how you acted and what you learned. Hell comes when you suffer the pains of your sins and feel other people’s emotions that you hurt. This torment is created by your soul and how long it last and how much it hurts is all by the individual soul. Once you paid for your sins you can move on to higher consciousness and or reincarnate back to the earth. Now this answer is completely bias and not even my belief in it can prove it. It’s just my inner feeling of how things work up there. Hell is a lake of fire if you create it to be.

Answer 5

The word Hell means the grave. In Hebrew it is referred to as Sheol and in Greek it is Hades.
Hell is not a hot place but just the grave where the dead are resting. Traditions has made hell a place of torment for wicked souls and good people go to heaven but biblicaly that is not how it really is. Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 states the dead are conscious of nothing and have no existance.
Psalm 115:17 "The dead themselves do not praise Jah,
Nor do any going down into silence."
Psalm 146:4 "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground;
In that day his thoughts do perish"

The Bible refers to death as being asleep.
When Jesus resurrected Lazarus he didn't snatch him back from heaven to his body on Earth. No. Jesus awakened him from death what Jesus refered to as sleep.
John 11:11 "He said these things, and after this he said to them: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest, but I am journeying there to awaken him from sleep.”
Hell is where all the dead go until the day of judgement not just wicked.
God of the bible is not a torturer even of wicked people. It is not a quality of our creator. God is love (1John 4:16)
The wicked will perish into annilation "The second death"
Revelation 20:14-15 And death and Ha′des were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire refers to complete destruction no longer existing, no return. Forever life forfeited and not sadistic eternal torment at God's pleasure as tradition would have it.

Answer 6

It is a very real place of torment and suffering. And if you go there it is forever, there is no escape, there is no second chance. People often ask why a kind and loving God would send people to Hell. But what they don't understand is that God does not send people to Hell, people choose to go there when the reject Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Also, the Bible says that every person is given at least one chance in life to accept Jesus as their Savior. And if they reject Jesus and end up in Hell, they will remember vividly the day and the events that occurred when they rejected Him. Hell is a very real and a very horrible place. I believe that the KJV Bible is accurate and true and this is what it says. Those who attempt to make Hell a less brutal place to be are wrong. The Bible clearly describes what Hell is like. It doesn't matter if we like it or agree with it. God didn't ask for our opinion on it. This is what it is and here are the rules...you choose.

Answer 7

In the book of revelation it explains that an unsaved soul goes to hell after the death of the physical body.that is where you stay until Judgement Day at which point you will be jugded by God and sent to the Lake of Fire for ever and ever.

Answer 8

Both and it will be forever. You can never leave once a person goes there. It certainly won't be a party as some people out there may believe it is. There are no little devils running around with pitch forks either like some people seem to think is funny.

Answer 9

No, Hell is an eternal lake of bulls**t because heaven and hell doesn't exists.

Answer 10

Is there a difference? If one could be in eternal paradise in the presence of God, then to fail to achieve that would cause alot of anguish.

I think the "eternal lake of fire" is a metaphor for that state of anguish of knowing what one could have achieved, but failed to.