Can Christians say dogmatically that the Bible teaches eternal hell?

Question

I'm not talking about universalism (everyone gets saved) but annihilationism (punishment then destruction for sinners).

Check out this essay and let me know what you think:
http://www.iratecinemaunderground.com/ishelleternal.html

I'm talking more to Christians and people who are open-minded to the possibility of what this question is entailing. If you just want to say religion is evil or something, that isn't helpful.

Answer 1

The Bishops of high denomination of Christianity declared that there are 50,000 errors in Holy Bible.
http://www.jamaat.net/bible/AwakeArticle(1957).html
http://www.jamaat.net/bible/Bible4-6.html
http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/bible/13.html
www.al-sunnah.com/bible.htm - 43k.
www.muslimworld.co.uk/errorsinbible.htm

Examples of Corruption in Bible
http://www.quransearch.com/sake.htm

Christians admitted perversion in bible
http://www.bibleperversion.com/

Corrupted Scriptures in the New Living Translation
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/NLT/nlt_exposed.htm
WHOLE Bible verses deleted in the NIV
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/nivdelet.htm

Corruption and interpolation in bible exposed.
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/american_standard_version_expose.htm

16 Bishops of high rank removed the verse John 5:7 from Bible. Because this verse advocates the concept of trinity. They declared trinity a falsehood.
http://www.30below.com/~ethanl/1John5v7.html
www.1john57.com
www.wayoflife.org/fbns/defending1.htm
www.studytoanswer.net/bibleversions/1john5n7.html

There are more than 2,000 versions of bible in this world.

Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses.
First Roman Catholic Bible was published at Rheims in 1582.
Second one published at Douay in 1609.
These called RCV version of Bible.
The Protestants regarded 7 books as ‘apocrypha’ (doubtful authority) and removed them from Bible. (The Book of Judith, The Book of Tobias, The Book of Baruch, The Buck of Esther, etc.)
Jesus pbuh said in the book of Revelation Chapter 22 Verse 18-19 ". . . If any man shall add to these things (or delete) God shall add unto him the plagues written in this Book."
On deleting 7 books from bible, the Catholics call ‘cult of Christianity’ to the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Answer 2

In the ancient Greek there is a word called "aion". It means age. There are many ages. For example look at Ephesians 1:21, 2:7 and 3:9. There is the expression "eis ton aniona". It has been wrongly translated as Forever. Look at 2 Samuel 7:16 and 1 Kings 9:5. They each say David and Solomon will be on the throne Forever! That is wrong. It should mean for life or "to the age". In this case the age means the life of the person.

The adjective "aionion" means "age-abiding" or "age lasting". Look at Habakkuk 3:6. The word is used 3 times. It describes the mountains, the hills and Gods ways. Some translations, like the KJV and NKJV say the everlasting mountains will crumble. How wrong is that? These same mistranslations are used in the new testament to descibe punishment. The following are the ONLY verses in the NT which speak of "eternal" punishment. They are:

Mat 12:32 Mat 18:8 Mat 25:41,46
Mark 3:29
2 Thess 1:9
Heb 6:2
Jude 7, 13
Rev 14:11 Rev 19:3 Rev 20:10

In ALL those verses the words "eternal," "everlasting", "forever," "forever and ever" are taken from "aion" and its many forms. In other words, they all have been translated wrong. There is a hell. It is the Lake of fire in Revelation, but it is not eternal.

For example in Rev 14:11, it should read " the smoke of their torment rises for ages of ages". That sounds like a long time but no amount of ages can add up to eternity. I do not agree that people put into the lake of fire will be annihilated into non-exsistance. I believe they will be purged and purified in the fire. Check out Malachi 3:2-3. Consider that Jesus, after speaking of the fire of Gehenna, said " all must be salted with fire" indicating the purpose is to purify with fire. (Mark 9:43-50)

This means everyone will come out of the lake of fire eventually and be with God. There are many verses which say how ALL people will worship Him. Check out Rom14:11, Psalms 145:8-11, Rev 5:13, Phil 2:10-11 and Isa 45:23. How clear it is that there can be no eternal hell or else these beautiful promises can not come true.

Answer 3

oh my gosh! i just learned about this on monday! woo hoo! lol i'm also writing a paper on it right now and deciding my position. I do think the Bible clearly teaches eternal hell. Here are some verses and what they're talking about and why i believe in eternal hell. I'd love to talk more with you about this!

Matthew 25:46
In Matthew 25:46 Jesus is finishing explaining previous parables and concludes his teaching with the difficult reality of the eternal dwelling of believers and nonbelievers. Jesus teaches that all nonbelievers will spend eternity in punishment, eternity in hell. This verse is important because it addresses the issue of what happens when humans die. Jesus confirms not only eternal existence of our souls, but eternal punishment in hell for nonbelievers.

Matthew 24:51
In Matthew 24:51 Jesus confirms that unbelievers will face hell. More importantly, this verse clearly expresses the idea that hell is unpleasant. The fact that hell is unpleasant and that Jesus says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth implies that the people experiencing hell are completely conscious and aware of their dire situation. This verse is important because it confirms the existence of consciousness and the soul after death as well as the existence of hell.

Revelation 14:11
In Revelation 14:11 the torment for those in hell is vividly described. The most important and most significant part of the verse is the end of the first sentence. This verse further confirms that those in hell will be tormented forever and ever. The verse continues on to say that there is no rest day or night for the people in hell. This is particularly significant because it also affirms the belief that those suffering in hell will be completely conscious and completely suffering eternally. Thus, it is clear from this verse the hell is real, the torture is real and eternal, and the sufferer is completely conscious.

Matthew 10:28
In Matthew 10:28 Jesus warns that death of the body is not death of the soul. Humans can kill the soul but not the body. This not only affirms that the soul is eternal, but that God can destroy the body on earth and the soul in hell. Thus, another verse confirms the existence of hell and the consciousness of the sufferers.

well, i hope that helps!

Answer 4

The degree of punishment will be commensurate with one's sin against the light which one has received.
One good passage that indicated degrees of punishment is Luke 12:47-48: "That servant who know his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be BEATEN WITH MANY BLOWS. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be BEATEN WITH FEW BLOWS. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked". Other verses on this issue include MAT 10:15; 16:27; Rev. 20:12,13; 22:12.
Jesus affirmed that the wicked "will go away to ETERNAL punishment, but the righteous to ETERNAL life" (Mat 25:46)

Answer 5

Bible state that the wages(something you earn) of sin is death.
This clearly states that if you are not giving eternal life you will be put to death.
The lie that we live forever was from the devil when he said "surely you will not die".

In Genesis the word soul is from Hebrew and should be translated living flesh.
Animals are refered to as nephesh as well. But the translators used living flesh in this instance.
God clearly stated that we will return to the dust and await the resurestion of judgement.
Unpopular beliefs but from the bible non the less.
In Greek "hell" means the pit, as in people would put their patatos in "hell" for the winter.
They did not have refrideration so they just burried it.
Hell fire refers to the fire that will start in the valley of jehosaphat at the resurection, hence ashes under the feet of the saints.

Answer 6

I don't like to click on links, but I will tell you what I think the Bible teaches about "hell".
The concept of "eternal torment" was never thought up by God, of that I am sure.
"the gift of God is eternal life"...let's think about that for a second....
God has given us a gift...the gift is eternal life. Now, why would God give us the gift of eternal life, if we already have eternal life, but the only question is whether we will spend that eternal life in heaven or in "hell"??
If your daughter has a perfectly fine car, and her only problem is whether she should park it in a nice safe garage, or in a junk yard, would you buy her a new car in order to solve her problem? Of course not!! You would only give her the gift of a car if she didn't already have one.
God gave us the gift of eternal life because we don't already have eternal life...mankind gave up the right to immortality when sin entered the picture.
The wages of sin is death. Death, not eternal torment, is the payment we earn for sin. Death is what Jesus paid on the cross for us. Death is what awaits the unrepentant sinner.
The idea that "hell" is "eternal separation from God" would definitely mean "annihilation" since NOTHING can exist outside of God's power. To be separated from God means not to exist.
So, what is the point of resurrecting unrepentant sinners in the first place? Ahh, there's the rub. We pass from life into death...that is our bodies expire, but our spirits sleep. Although since Jesus has gone back to the Father, I think the spirits of those that belong to Him go to be with Him. But the spirits of unrepentant sinners sleep...awaiting that final resurrection. Think of the terror of knowing that the time has finally come...you have been awakened from death only to be snuffed out of existence altogether. When you could have had eternal life with the saints in Heaven. That is punishment enough, I think, to satisfy even the most sadistic among us, I hope. If not, perhaps it won't matter...at least not a few seconds after awakening.
It is certainly enough vengeance for God. And that is all that matters.
Thanks for your time, and God bless you.

Answer 7

I think the essay is interesting and I can only say I am a Christian but I'm from the peace/love hippy era and I believe that evil has to be punished but I believe God cannot stand to lose any man to Satan and therfore is in the end forgiving of all sins and being Christian and believing Jesus died for our sins How do we as humans decide who's sins he died for and who shall go to heaven or hell? I truly believe that each person is responsable for themselves and that it isn't my business to "save" anyone in anyway other than by treating them and their opinions with respect.

Answer 8

Hi.

The Bible teaches that when we die, we are concious of nothing:

(Ecclesiastes 9:5) . . .For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten. . .

The word Hell in many Bibles is really from these:

Ge·hen′na (Greek)
She′ol (Hebrew) The common grave of mankind, gravedom; not an individual burial place or grave
Ha′des (greek)

Then we can look at some other scriptures for clarification:

(Romans 6:7) . . . For he who has died has been acquitted from [his] sin.

Hmmm to be acquitted it to be free of sin..... Look at Adam. If any human deserved punishment it was Adam, yet what was his punishment for putting all of humanity into the mess we are in now??

(Genesis 3:19) . . .In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Adam was to return to the ground.....

(Ezekiel 18:4) . . .The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.

So in a quick rundown, the Bible does not teach Hellfire....

Discuss??

Mike

Answer 9

no, the bible states that hell was created so it will have an end as shown in the book of revelations. it is cast into the lake of fire and destroyed. eternal means that which hath no beginning or ending. hell had a beginning and it shall have an end

Answer 10

According to my (perhaps tenuous) linking of the ideas at 1 Kings 20 and Colossians 2:20 onwards, fire is associated with sensual indulgence that is not able to be restrained by means of putting rules onto yourself. This only creates a pattern of, as Zen puts it, two separate disciplines for philosophy and sex. This like the dragnet of Habakkuk 1:15, 16 or the "endless genealogies" of 1 Timothy 1:4 combined with an awareness of the principle at 1 Corinthians 8:1 - Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. When people realise where all this studying of generation is going, they want to close it down a bit. That's where sex comes into it. Really, philosophy is against the Bible's message. No knowledge is supposed to take us further away from reality. (That's paid work.) It's all supposed to be useful. How? Because it's good for our head to think about how things work so that we stress less and don't need addictions to get through the day. That's what knowledge is for. This is self-love.

Anyway, I think that the reason why people get so hung up on the idea that hell must be hot (actually, it derives from Anglo-Saxon "helan" meaning "to cover", as in ashamed people tend to want to cover themselves over, whereas guilty people tend to like to pay for their mistakes) is because they're in the "don't want to lose face" class that doesn't conceive of the idea of being personally guilty (they're too oppressed for that). That's why guilt-based culture - those pay wages rather than receive them - tends to be more skeptical of a hot hell, I think. In fact, their experience of covering could be something quite different to that of the shame-based culture that sees it as being recompense for something. I've even heard of people WANTING to go to hell out of sympathy for the others who are apparently going to be there. I assume that these are the anarchists who think this way. Maybe the hierarchy thinks they'll graduate to owning everything and deciding what everybody else is going to get (this is the definition of a demon - a distributor of fates and fortunes. Distribution incorporates the idea of sequence. Eg. Dodge Viper is 1-10-9-4-3-6-5-8-7-2).

Further to this, I think the book of Revelation was revealed to John by means of shiny, happy, decommissioned, scaredy-cat wannabe-virginal ex-angels, like the one in Daniel chapters 10-12 with multitudinous voices. So I don't think the very graphic depictions of punishment in Revelation count for anything more than knowing what the opposition thinks. They're like Emperor Nero's behaviour towards those "called", but necessarily in actuality, Christians.

The Bible is metaphor. It survives corruption by criminals trying to pick it to pieces for codes. Codes are just made up by the person who "finds" them. Ditto for alleged advanced work in science if it gets very heroic and moralistic.