If hell is not eternal, why is the fire unquenchable (Luke 3:17)?

Answer 1

Hell is a place of ETERNAL punishment for the wicked and unjust.

Answer 2

Jesus is drawing a vivid example using the unquenchable fires of Gehenna, just outside the gates of Jerusalem, where the refuse of the city and the endless stream of unclean animal parts were incinerated. All the bits and pieces and "stuff" that cannot be made clean and acceptable to God are cast into the fire which consumes and is never satisfied. Vivid imagery.

But I don't interpret that as individuals being tormented for all eternity. I look at it as the process of losing all that keeps us from becoming Christlike.

Peace to you.

Answer 3

First, the fire is not physical fire because all physical things will have passed away. The torment of souls will be without end. It is eternal. God does not lie, and if He does He is not God, SO I expect it does and will exist that the people that do not love and follow God/Jesus will be without end in extreme torment. There will not be any time because that also is physical so torment will be.....

This is a part of the Bible that speaks in symbolism so human kind can understand it. It does not mean literal physical fire but something that will hurt the soul as much as fire hurts the body we know on earth.

Answer 4

Luke 3:17 isn't talking about hell, it is talking about separating the good from the bad in each of our lives. He is talking about how he (John the Baptist) could cleanse them with water but that the one to come (Jesus) would baptize with fire (and the Spirit of God)...that those who are baptized by Jesus would be cleansed of the "chaff" (the evil if you will) for all eternity...that the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit is unquenchable!

Answer 5

As long as the belief in hell is present, then the fire is "unquenchable," so to speak. When the belief in hell is removed and destroyed, then the flames will have lost their source of "eternal" fuel.

Answer 6

Hellbound people should have to suffer so it is probably not eternal since the fire is only unquenchable in that 3:17. It doesn't mean its eternal torment, only painful.

Answer 7

The Orthodox have a great teaching about this. They talk about the "uncreated energies" of God--such as the divine light that appears sometimes in the Bible--and say that the fire of hell is the same as this light. God's glory is everywhere. For those who love God, it is heaven. For those who would rather escape him, it is hell. But those in "hell" can conceivably change their mind.

Answer 8

Remember what Satan said to Eve? You positively will not die! False religion is still teaching the same today.

What Really Is Hell?
WHATEVER image the word "hell" brings to your mind, hell is generally thought of as a place of punishment for sin. Concerning sin and its effect, the Bible says: "Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned." (Romans 5:12) The Scriptures also state: "The wages sin pays is death." (Romans 6:23) Since the punishment for sin is death, the fundamental question in determining the true nature of hell is: What happens to us when we die?

Does life of some kind, in some form, continue after death? What is hell, and what kind of people go there? Is there any hope for those in hell? The Bible gives truthful and satisfying answers to these questions.

Life After Death?
Does something inside us, like a soul or a spirit, survive the death of the body? Consider how the first man, Adam, came to have life. The Bible states: "Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life." (Genesis 2:7) Though breathing sustained his life, putting "the breath of life" into his nostrils involved much more than simply blowing air into his lungs. It meant that God put into Adam's lifeless body the spark of life—"the force of life," which is active in all earthly creatures. (Genesis 6:17; 7:22) The Bible refers to this animating force as "spirit." (James 2:26) That spirit can be compared to the electric current that activates a machine or an appliance and enables it to perform its function. Just as the current never takes on the features of the equipment it activates, the life-force does not take on any of the characteristics of the creatures it animates. It has no personality and no thinking ability.

What happens to the spirit when a person dies? Psalm 146:4 says: "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish." When a person dies, his impersonal spirit does not go on existing in another realm as a spirit creature. It "returns to the true God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7) This means that any hope of future life for that person now rests entirely with God.

Please enjoy the rest of the article right here! http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2002/7/15/article_02.htm

Answer 9

Go to this web site http://www.sherryshriner.com/revelations.htm
As Jesus said, "For a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." John :28 We will be in immortal bodies, Mark 9:48 where
" 'their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.'[a]

Answer 10

The fire on 9-11 was unquenchable....unable to put out....but had eternal results.