The Rich Man and Lazarus?

Question

Did anybody ever consider that Jesus' parable about the rich man and Lazarus was symbolic and did not actually have anything 2 do w/ a literal burning hell?

Answer 1

It is symbolic. The context and the wording of the story show clearly that it is a parable and not an actual historical account. Poverty is not being extolled, nor are riches being condemned. Rather, conduct, final rewards, and a reversal in the spiritual status, or condition, of those represented by Lazarus and by the rich man are evidently indicated. The fact that the rich man’s brothers rejected Moses and the prophets also shows that the illustration had a deeper meaning and purpose than that of contrasting poverty and the possession of riches.

Answer 2

WHAT THE WORLD THINKS OR WHAT THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS SAY

If the bible is to be believed as fact and truth, hell is 31 times in the old testament, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob was buried in the same cave, one like unto John 19:38-42; as Jesus was in Acts 2:27-31; A Sepulchre, cave, pit, tomb, grave and burial place hell, and David is still in his sepulchre when Jesus is resurrected and as John 3:13-17; says, Jesus is the only one who went to heaven. Luke 16:16,17,29,31; So the bosom of Abraham is not heaven and O. T. does not teach of the living dead Gen.3:1-5; the serpent decieved Eve, Rev. 12:9 [ Dragon and serpent, Satan and Devil ]; death has been since then John 8:44; but the law and the prophets are to be believed. Jesus read the heart of the covetous Pharisee, they did not know the law of Moses Matt.23:1-7; Jesus is the seed of Abraham to bless all nations Heb. 2:9,14,16; So Lazarus as very poor, sick and neglected by the rich religious Pharisee leaders, by Jesus they are put in the position they think Lazarus is doomed for and all said is proof they do not know the law and the prophets. There is no such thing as the living dead. Dead is dead, dust to dust Gen.3:19; Psm.104:29,30; Job 34:14,15; the resurrection is the resurrection Eze.37:12-14; So the soul is created, the soul is born and by the spirit of God that is the life of the soul, the soul is resurrected 1Cor.15:22-28,51-53; The heavenly for the new heavens, the earthly for the new earth.

Answer 3

Lots of people have considered it. However this is the only time in a 'parable' he mentions specific names. It is also never called a parable except in man-made titles.
Ephesians 4:8This is why it says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men." 9(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Matthew12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Revelation 20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

From these passages I believe there was a 'hades' at the center of the earth. It consisted of Hell and Paradise with a chasm seperating them. I believe Jesus descended into 'hades' and brought back the souls of the already dead to be with him in heaven. When he descended and rose he conquered death and paid the price that had not been paid. Later all those in hell will be cast into the eternal lake of fire.

I know I went a little off course but I wanted to show how it all fits in and where I got everything.

Answer 4

(For anyone interested) Check Luke 17:19 and read the story. Here's the bottom line:

They both died. One went to be in Heaven and the other went to Hell. One of the rich man's requests was to send someone from Heaven to warn all of his friends of what awaited them if they followed the same steps. (life being consumed with self-centered living),

Abraham's answer was, Moses was sent and the prophets (Elijah, Jesus, Paul). If they didn't listen to the living prophets, they won't believe any of the dead ones either.

The point of the parable is to keep your faith in God no matter how bad your life is and you will be rewarded. Live on earth full of self-centered (ness) and you are rewarded with a life in hell.

--hope this helps.

Answer 5

Although the bible speaks very little about what happens at the moments of our death, I believe the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man to be very important to these things.

From Christ's words we learn that there is no soul sleep of the righteous. The moment we die, we face the judgment of God (Hebrews 9:27).

Until the final resurrection, though, there is currently a temporary Heaven, “Paradise”, (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4) and Hell, “Hades”, (Revelation 1:18; 20:13-14).

The bible clearly says:
2Co 5:8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (ESV Translation)

Those that are damned will ultimately join Satan in their separation from God in Hell.
2Th 1:9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Those that have died in Christ now reside in heaven as spiritual beings. Since Christ, the second person of the Godhead, has always existed, the elect of God have been known to Him before Christ actually walked the earth. So anyone who has died since the world began exists in paradise or in Hades as described above.

Those who have died in Christ will not remain in heaven as a soul without a body. At God’s appointed time, there will be a final resurrection where the spirit will be unified with the resurrected body at the second coming of Christ at the final judgment. From Phil. 3:20-21, and 1 John 3:2, we know that our glorified bodies will be like that of Christ. We will not be deity like He is, but we will have the same qualities of His resurrection body. Our heavenly bodies will be our glorified earthly bodies. Christ’s body that died on the cross was the same one that was resurrected. His glorified body was able to travel through walls, appear suddenly, and ascend to heaven. From 1 Corinthians 15:39-40, 42b-43, we learn that our heavenly bodies will possess flesh that is of a different variety than our earthly ones. Our new bodies will be bodies of flesh, but as different from our earthly bodies as humans are from animals.

In conclusion, like a seed, the body of the righteous will be sown or buried and then one day be raised up to life. It is buried in death, decay, weakness, and dishonor. When it is resurrected, it will be changed in every way. It is raised up imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. We will then have eternal, permanent, and perfected bodies.

Answer 6

Jesus spoke illustrations, The Scriptures say that no one has ascended to heaven but he that descended from heaven, that would be Jesus Christ, and since he spoke the illustration and had not ascended to heaven yet, it was symbolic. John 3:13.

Answer 7

The following article appeared in the well respected Finland newspaper, Ammenusastia



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"As a communist I don’t believe in heaven or the Bible but as a scientist I now believe in hell," said Dr. Azzacove. "Needless to say we were shocked to make such a discovery. But we know what we saw and we know what we heard. And we are absolutely convinced that we drilled through the gates of hell!"

Dr. Azzacove continued, ". . .the drill suddenly began to rotate wildly, indicating that we had reached a large empty pocket or cavern. Temperature sensors showed a dramatic increase in heat to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit."

"We lowered a microphone, designed to detect the sounds of plate movements down the shaft. But instead of plate movements we heard a human voice screaming in pain! At first we thought the sound was coming from our own equipment."

"But when we made adjustments our worst suspicions were confirmed. The screams weren’t those of a single human, they were the screams of millions of humans!"


Maybe you should decide for yourself before it is too late to change your mind!!