Which is the 'correct' Christian version of Hell?

Question

A couple of answers have said that is just sleep, whereas the majority say that is is a pit of fire.
Please help me to understand which of these options I'm turning down.

mighty.macabros - great answer! So 'hell' as it is threatened to us atheists is all Dante's fault!! Typical hot-blooded Italian! LOL

Answer 1

Like anyone actually knows!

It's a mistranslation in the bible from the original word meaning the grave. Nothing more. To me that means death and the grave, the end, zippo, kaput.

Answer 2

Hell has different levels, but they are all of torment, its just the degree that varies. Some will go to the fire, others to cells with bars. There is no light, there is no water because there is no life there.

Demons reign there and will torment those that go there. Hell is in the centre of the earth. The smell is terrible. There will be no communication with other humans because everyone will be in too much torment.

There are many verses telling of what hell is and many people have been given the experience so that they can warn others. Do a search for one who was taken to hell in order to write a book - Bill Wiese - he spent 23 minutes in hell and was traumatised for about a year. The purpose was that the Lord wanted him to warn others.

Answer 3

Let's see what Jesus himself had to say about hell.
Firstly in Matthew 25:46, Jesus calls hell a place of eternal punishment. The word punishment suggests more than sleep to me.
Secondly in Matthew 22:13, Jesus speaks of hell as a place of darkness where people will wail and grind their teeth.
Again, doesn't sound like sleep to me.
I know we would all prefer hell to be a place where we are just separated from God and sleep forever or better still if hell didn't exist at all. The problem is, that Jesus himself acknowledges the existence of hell and that this hell was originally created for Satan and his angels. You can therefore not reject the doctrine of hell without doubting Jesus' own words. As for the eternal sleep theory, I don't think that you can be in the company of evil itself and sleep happily forever after.

Answer 4

Hey Grotty,

Up until the play Dante's Inferno was made, Hell was a place that was viewed as being outside the observance of God. It was still a nice place, but it had mortal limitations, you still got hungry, for example, but it was still much nicer than the human world in which we now preside. Hell was no where near as nice as heaven, where instant gratification could be given to anything you may ask, but it was not a bad place at all.

Answer 5

Will it be a pit, will it be a lake? Will it be full of sulfur and brimstone, or just fire?

Two things are for sure:

1 - it's eternal...once in, no coming out.
2 - It's the complete absence of anything attributed to God. In other words, no joy, no celebrating, no peace, no happiness - only grief, sadness, loneliness, lack of hope.

As C.S Lewis said - for Christians, this life is my only hell. (the last time I will experience pain, grief, suffering and such)
For all others, this is the only time they will get a taste of Heaven (joy, happiness, friendship, peace and comfort).

Answer 6

It is the complete absence of "Gods" presence.

Like cold is the absence of heat, to the point of absolute zero.

Like darkness is the absence of light.

So maybe it will be like a pit of fire because people will be building bonfires to try and keep warm
It may be likened to sleep because the opposite would be to be awake, for eternity.

Answer 7

Luke 16:22 And it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am suffering in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now here he is comforted and you are suffering. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, so that those who desire to cross over from here to you are not able, nor may those from there cross over to us.'

Answer 8

I'm looking for the 'correct' Christian version of Hell also.
I believe it is eternal, it is a form of punishment, but -
in the book of Matthew, it says that it was prepared for the devil and his angels. They are spirit beings, so fire would not affect them.

Answer 9

According to Jesus teachings it is fire. Read the following extract of bible. And Islam also confirm this.

Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) says, as it is informed in Bible Luke 16:19-31 about the similar situation that the people who do not believe. They will not believe by any miracle.
19 There was a certain who was clothed in purple and fine linen and faired sumptuously every day.
20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
21 "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 "So it was that beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 "And being tormented in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'
25 "But Abraham said, 'Son remember that in your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'
27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore father, that you would send him to my father's house,
28 'for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'
29 "Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
30 "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they persuaded through one rise from the dead.'"

Answer 10

i think there are possibly three ''bad'' options, according to scripture (though it seems like i'm the only one who thinks this). there's the destruction of the soul by fire, eternal torment by fire, and outer darkness, which must be some kind of eternal state of intense fear, bitterness, and sorrow. i could be way off base though. i don't worry much about the afterlife. i'm far more interested in the here and now.