Does your Pastor teach you about Hell?

Question

Hell is a hugely unpopular subject, yet Jesus talked about it. Whatever happend to hell? Has it disappeared? Or are we simply unable to defend this Biblical doctrine?

Just to remind everyone I never dish out any thumbs down - all opinions welcome.

Now, all you Christians out there who have informed me the doctrine of Hell is taught in your church - WHERE'S THE BIBLICAL PROOF TO SUPPORT IT? Haven't you got any? The anti-hell brigade are having a field day!!! Am I going to have to share several hours worth of research with you all, or is someone out there going to make an effort?

C'mon, folks - you've got to do some work to get 10 points!!!

The Hebrew word Sheol in the OT refers to death or the grave, also to the place or state to which all people go at death.

The Septuagint (the first translation of the OT into Greek, dated around 250 B.C.) translates Sheol as Hades in 61 cases out of 65.

But what about the Greek word Gehenna? It appears 12 times in the NT and is translated as hell. 11 times out of the 12 times that it occurs in the NT, it is JESUS who uses it. Can we now get focused?

Moises 3702 makes a good point in saying other religions teach a doctrine of hell.

Question - can hell mean annihilation?

At last! Some biblical support for hell! Check out Jesus' words in Matthew 5:29; 18:9; 23:33. And regarding the soul, see Matthew 10:28 - "Be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna)". And as for those who say it is not a place of literal fire, what do you make of Jesus' words in Mark 9:43 and 48?

Thanks for your input, Iron Serpant - will respond to your comments later. Just one question to think about - if Jesus was saying hell was not literal but figurative, does that line of reasoning mean heaven is not literal but figurative also?

Matthew 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.' Verse 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Rev 20:10 "And the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Rev 20:14-15 "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Rev 14:10-11 "He too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image"

Matthew 25:41 says the lake of fire is the final place of the lost - it was made for the Devil in the first place and that is where the lost go after death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire.

Matthew 25:46 says the punishment lasts as long as eternal life. If hell simply meant annihilation the NT writers would have used the Greek word 'ekmedenisis' or 'ekmedenizw'. They didn't - they said (and meant) eternal punishment.

Death and Hades are the interim place for the dead - those who are in the grave. But then death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire - the second death.

I don't think for one minute that hell is figurative, just as I don't think heaven is figurative. Jesus knew what he was talking about - and he has warned us.

Answer 1

Certainly. It's never preached on out of proportion - heaven is mentioned far more often than hell, so that's a big clue. But periodically we receive biblical teaching and nobody in our church succumbs to political correctness by not using the word, or to mockery by using it as a swear-word or a joke.

The Greek word geena is the NT word used, as in Mat 5:22, by Jesus. In the OT the place of the dead, both good and bad, is called sheol, rendered hades in the NT. With the growth of belief in the resurrection during the inter-Testamental time, the Book of Enoch (circa 150-100 BC) had the concept of a hell for sinners after the final judgment. It was soon universally called Ge-Hinnom, short for Ge-ben-Hinnom, the Valley of (the sons of) Hinnom. This was the valley south of Jerusalem where child sacrifices had been offered (kings Ahaz and Manasseh). From the time of Josiah it became the rubbish tip of the city, where fires burned continually.

Jesus warned that both soul and body are destroyed in hell(Mat 10:28), making a clear distinction that hell-mockers choose to ignore. In Lk 16:19-31 he went right along with religious Talmudic views of the day (about Abraham's bosom, the chasm between hell and heaven etc) to warn sneering Pharisees that those who do not listen to the scriptures that point to Christ are in danger of hell.

It escapes most people's logic that the one person who does NOT want us to believe in hell is the devil. He has almost triumphed in this era. Those who are not anointed with God's Holy Spirit universally ridicule the very idea of hell. Whose children are they appearing to be by so doing?

Answer 2

WHAT image does the word "hell" conjure up in your mind? Do you see hell as a literal place of fire and brimstone, of unending torment and anguish? Or is hell perhaps a symbolic description of a condition, a state?

For centuries, a fiery hell of excruciating torments has been envisioned by religious leaders of Christendom as the certain destiny for sinners. This idea is still popular among many other religious groups. "Christianity may have made hell a household word," says U.S.News & World Report, "but it doesn't hold a monopoly on the doctrine. The threat of painful retribution in the afterlife has counterparts in nearly every major world religion and in some minor ones as well." Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jains, and Taoists believe in a hell of one sort or another

Answer 3

I have no problem with hell - you only have to read the Daily Mail to know it exists - here on this earth - at this very moment in time. I think it was Oscar Wilde who said "Hell is other people".

My only problem with hell is that some people say (probably just for effect when they get carried away by the hellfire scenario) hell is "Eternal". How the hell do they know?

Answer 4

the word hell comes from the hebrew word sheol and the greek word hades.it refers not to a place of fiery torment where the devil lives but to the common grave of mankind.everyone ends up in hell or the common grave,where we sleep until god ressurects us back to life on a paradise earth.so hell has always been with us, but unfortunately the church has distorted the meaning of this word,and many other teachings.

Answer 5

Our Pastor has been doing a series on what God is like. Each week he teaches on a different side of the Lord. A week ago yesterday his message was on the anger and wrath of God. He admitted it was not a popular subject.....and the destination of those who reject Him. He admitted it was difficult to preach, but he did a wonderful job. I thanked him afterwards.......a loved one with me that day needed to hear this message......and who knows how many others that day needed to hear it? Very few preachers/teachers touch on this subject.....and it is interesting that Jesus talked a lot about hell !! I could ask this question too.....'whatever happened to sin'????

Answer 6

It is definately not ignored in my church, I belong to a new frontiers church. We just don't use the threat of hell to scare people into church, which doesn't work anyway because it's God's love that saves.

Answer 7

As a pastor, whenever I speak about Hell, I do so with a breaking heart.
Jesus spoke a great deal more about love.

Answer 8

I'd be really surprised if your version of hell really matched Jesus's as it has evolved through time and strongly influenced by every twist and turn the church has taken.

I'd also say that if you did an exhaustive survey that there would be countless different conflicting beliefs about it across all Christians.

Answer 9

hell had to be closed, it was due to the ever increasing list of health and safety regs it was unable to comply with.

Answer 10

What do you mean, unpopular? Christians love their hell. Moslems can't wait to send us all there. Without hell their stupid religions wouldn't exist, and they know it.