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What is Biblical Hell?



The topic of Hell is one of those that stirs up the pot, making almost anybody uncomfortable. When this topic is brought up in dialogue, many often push it aside (ignoring its significance) or deny that it exists directly (even some Christians). Some people have even misused scripture about Hell to scare people into believing, as well as the late medieval fiction, The Divine Comedy, and other works around that time, preaching images of eternal burning on stakes, demons torturing humans, and God being a divine sadist behind it all.


The thought of dying dawns upon all of us, and if God is real, then judgment is possible as well. If we want a fair examination of what Scripture really says about Hell, and to do we must remain calm and sober-minded when thinking about this. Perhaps a little advice may help you; Reality does not cater to feelings, so if your reason for rejecting Hell can be boiled down to mere "preference" or "I don't like it", then all I have to say in response is I Agree. The thought of eternal separation from the standard of Good makes me tremble! But that is not stable grounds to accuse God of being inhumane, outdated, or unrealistic. This is a matter of Justice, and if God is just, then evil must be punished (Evil is anything outside the domain of God's intentional Holy and Good Will; remember that Good flows from God's nature). When properly understood, Hell is the fairest thing God could ever give a person. Another thing to keep in mind is that the point of Salvation through Christ is not to be scared of Hell and therefore choose Christ, it is to enjoy God’s presence now and for eternity. Therefore the “hell is the reason we choose Jesus” presentation is dishonest and thus cannot be taken seriously.


Jesus Spoke of Hell


Do you know who spoke the most about Hell in the Bible? It was God Himself, incarnate in Jesus, the one who embodies perfect selfless love is the same person who never hesitated when focused on the topic of Hell and saw no contradiction between a perfectly loving God that forgives sin on one side, and eternal separation on the other. As Frank Turek says, since Jesus practiced exactly what He taught, He has moral credibility like no other person. Jesus was an ethical genius, and all information about Ethics has been expanding on His sermons.


Jesus spoke of Hell in three main ways: Hell as eternal fire (Matthew 25:41) and eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46); A place of darkness and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:21); And a place where the destruction of the soul took place (Matthew 10:28). Since Jesus' ministry was rather short (only 3 years) and He spent a lot of time talking about Hell, it must be an extremely important revelation for Him to leave unannounced.


The Proper Understanding


Before we begin looking at Scripture, we must be reminded on one crucial thing. “Every medium of communication has rules and must be understood within the context of those rules if the message is going to be accurately interpreted ~ Frank Turek, (“Is God Just a Human Invention?” Pg 161). When you repeat every word your friend says back to them for a few minutes, and they yell at you, "Stop it, you're killing me!" they are not saying you are literally taking their life, but rather expressing the extreme irritation they feel towards you. Similarly, when someone asks you, "Why the long face?" when you look sad, they are not observing the actual stretching on your face. Some people do not approach Scripture with this concept in mind and seem to forget the rules of language entirely and understand everything hyper-literally. Some people cherry-pick things through a Western lens, which results in dishonest gotcha moments and an unrealistic approach.


Jesus most often communicated through hyperbole and exaggeration, literary tools designed to grab people's attention and face them towards the point of the message. When you read in the paper "The Penguins Anihilated the Oilers," you do not conclude that the Penguins somehow vaporized or slaughtered the opposing team on the rink. The headline is designed to grab your attention towards the main message, that the Oilers took a bad loss. Similarly, when Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)” He is not telling believers to hate their families. That would be taking this in a purely literal manner. Jesus wants us to love all people (Matt 5:44). With that in mind, we can fish out what Jesus is telling us: that a believer’s most important relationship is their love relationship with God, and that is a priority. By loving God, you love others. You can read the Bible void of a hyper-literal understanding.


Is Hell Fiery Torture?


This then leads us to the question: Is Hell a fiery torture chamber? Is it like it is depicted in tradition and fiction? Well, the images of "darkness" and "fire" are obvious metaphors for the unimaginable; this follows from the normal language use. Frank Turek says, “It is tempting, then, to think that hell may not be that bad after all since actual fire isn’t there… the reality is far worse than the symbol.” Fire points to eternity and the eternal spiritual decay of a person. If Heaven is where you are restored to full Humanity and purpose, then Hell is the ultimate decomposition of what it means to be Human. Darkness speaks to the complete absence of God’s direct presence, the absence of relationship; therefore, the essence of Hell is relational. Which is exactly why Paul said in Thessalonians 1:9: "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” There is no fundamental relationship with the source of all things good in Hell, only the bondage to self-centeredness.


Tim Keller shines some light on the issue:

“Modern people inevitably think hell works like this: God gives us time. But if we haven't made the right choices by the end of our lives, he casts our souls into hell for all eternity. As the poor souls fall through space, they cry out for mercy, but God says, "Too late! You had your chance! Now you will suffer!" This caricature misunderstands the very nature of evil. The Biblical picture is that sin separates us from the presence of God, which is the source of all joy and indeed of all love, wisdom, or good things of any sort. Since we were originally created for God's immediate presence only before his face, will we thrive, flourish, and achieve our highest potential... To lose his presence totally, that would be hell–the loss of our capability to forgive or receive love or joy.” (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, 76.)


By getting past the caricatures of Hell, we can put the understanding of Hell in the context that Jesus revealed.


Jesus Taught About Hell for a Reason


C.S. Lewis said this about hell: “Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining. always blaming others… but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God “sending us" to Hell. In each of us something is growing, which will be Hell unless it is nipped in the bud ”(C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, 46). Every person is becoming one of two things: either a lover of God or a lover of self (Genesis 3:5). "Even in this life, we can see the kind of soul disintegration that self-centeredness creates. We know how selfishness and self-absorption lead to piercing bitterness, nauseating envy, paralyzing anxiety, paranoid thoughts, and the mental denials and distortions that accompany them. Now ask the question: "What if when we die we don't end, but spiritually our life extends on into eternity?" Hell, then, is the trajectory of a soul, living a self-absorbed, self-centered life, going on and on forever.” (Timothy Keller, Reason for God, 76-77). Jesus taught about Hell to warn people about a certain lifestyle and where it leads.


"Couldn’t God Block The Consequence of Sin?", "Can’t He Just Erase It?" He could if He wanted to remove any meaningful freedom and by large, human dignity. God created us for a love relationship with Himself; the possibility of a relationship requires the choice to deny it. All people in rebellion against God are asking for Hell every single day by wanting distance from Him: “Gosh, God, why can’t you get off my case and let me live how I want.” This is leading to one place, and as C.S. Lewis puts it: There are 2 kinds of people, those who say to God “Thy Will Be Done” and those who God says “Thy Will Be Done.” Well, what about those who say, “Hell isn’t fair?” To that, I ask what is more fair than giving someone the outcome of their choices?


Did God Create Hell, and Does He Torture Humans?


Everything of God’s design was Good at first, and to God, that means perfect. When God created Man with free will, He created the possibility of opposition and, consequently, Hell. J.P. Moreland says that Hell was “God’s Fallback Plan” (a fallback plan can be misleading; it was all part of God's will, so God didn't lack something to require the need for Hell, rather it was logically necessary to create the type of universe we inhabit). Similar to when the United States was founded, they did not create jails at first because they didn’t like the idea of prison. They were then forced to make prisons because of people's free choice to not behave wisely and work together (in the case of God, He could foresee the needs of the universe for free will agency to justly exist). Jails were a result of Free Will; Hell was a result of Free Will. “Doesn’t God torture humans in hell, though? Aren't there people burning like a pig roast?" The image of God as a divine masochist/sadist is simply inconsistent with what scripture teaches. “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:23).” So God doesn’t inflict any more harm than a judge sentencing a criminal to jail for life. The judge sentences the criminal for choosing to violate the freedom that comes with being a citizen in society. The criminal sent himself to prison, the judge just evaluated his situation for him.


Those who find themselves in Hell have actively sought a life apart from God, so God gives them what their desires result in. It is logical to say that God created a space for Hell and that God maintains humans there because all creation is contingent on Him (God designed humans for eternity). But the suffering experienced in Hell is entirely of the individual design that proceeds from the person's character, actions, and regrets from their lives, and is directly proportional to their choices. Spiritual Death is people's experience of their self-centered trajectory that is extended into eternity, which is the wages of their sin. God is not actively punishing people either, because Hell is defined by what is not present (God’s glory, presence, and perfect sustainability). Therefore, God’s involvement in Hell is merely because existence is contingent upon Him; those within Hell are experiencing consequences that flow from themselves.


Does God Cast Babies Into Hell?


Atheists and Bible critics love to lean back on the objection that God sends innocent children to Hell, but is this an accurate and honest representation of Scripture? The Bible mentions an “age of accountability,” and Isaiah 7:16 mentions a period before a child “knows enough to reject wrong and choose the right.” So there is a period where a person is not held morally accountable to God due to immature awareness (not a condition they created themselves). When a person is mentally aware of right and wrong, then God will hold them morally accountable. This period is not a fixed age, as every person has different experiences and learns different realities at different times. Jesus also revealed the LORD’s view on Children. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:14)” and “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:14)” Trusting in the revealed nature of God, would He not judge all fairly?


Can God Just Forgive Everybody?


“If God is All-Loving and All-Powerful, then why can’t He forgive everyone's sin by default?” This question mixes condoning evil with forgiving it. “To condone evil is simply to ignore it or to treat it as if it were good. Forgiveness must be accepted as well as offered to be complete: a man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness ~ C.S. Lewis.” Therefore, the goodness of God would be violated if He ignored evil. Would a God who ignores people like Stalin and Hitler be a Good Being? Would evil not exist if God weren’t good? Bad presupposes good, so there must be good for evil to exist, and as all can attest to, evil is a reality we all face. “The Final Proof that God is a perfect moral being, not indifferent to questions of right and wrong, is the fact that He has committed Himself to judge the world” ~ J. I. Packer. God is not "ignoring" present evils, there is a day when He will judge all evil (Matthew 25:32-33).


When you see your family member being pushed around or a friend being taken advantage of, what is your response? God’s wrath is not a moody burst of rage, but His settled opposition to the separation that is degrading every person that He loves with His entire being.


Why is Hell Eternal?


Frank Turek raises some good points on why Hell is eternal. It simply wouldn't be right for God to annihilate unbelievers, since they are made in His image; this would be a self-attack. So God makes a space where those who reject Him can get their desire. Crimes also can take seconds to commit, but the punishment is always much longer. Similarly, a sin can take a few seconds to commit, but the authority in question is infinite. Another point is that people in Hell are continuously sinning, constantly separating themselves from God (they have no desire for repentance). It could very well be that those in Hell keep sinning, consequently extending their stay in Hell. Perhaps a person in Hell who repents can be saved, which then begs the question of who in Hell is going to want to repent, considering they never wanted to in the first place. These thoughts create too many issues, and scripture doesn't tell us how it works exactly; they are better left unattended for the moment.


Since God is perfectly just, everybody must receive the perfect degree of punishment and reward. And if there is no Hell, then why did Jesus come? What was He sacrificing Himself for? What did Jesus suffer for if He hadn’t suffered to save anybody from anything? You run into a logical contradiction when you remove Hell from reality. The last point is that God created us for an Eternal Love Relationship with Him, therefore, we were made for eternity, and that only means there are two grim realities. The one with God, and the one of separation from Him.


Conclusion


When scripture is examined in a context where Man has free choice for right and wrong, then God’s wrath is consistent with His other attributes, like Love and Justice. Hell is not an unfair casting from an angry God who is dissatisfied with your imperfection, but the logical outcome of someone choosing to exist separately from the origin of Good.


 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9)"


This verse tells us that the second person of the Trinity, the Son (Word, Shekinah, perhaps Metatron, or Memra), chose to limit His abilities through His role in redemption. He entered the Human experience by being made a little lower than angels. Verses leading up to this elaborate on how God originally made all creation for Man, and that our choice to not rule over creation righteously has temporarily hindered our chance. "But we do not yet (temporarily) see all things put under his feet (v8)."


The latter half of verse 9 introduces the purpose of the Son's humility: to suffer and taste death for all. Yes, Jesus "died" for all of us, but this death wasn't just biological death. Jesus experienced Spiritual Death, which can be seen in places where Jesus describes that as "eternal fire," which resembles eternal spiritual degradation, and "a place of darkness," symbolizing the unimaginable separation from God's direct presence. If Heaven is where you live to your full Human potential Eternally, then Hell is what it means to become the ultimate opposite of Humanity... Eternally.


Jesus took on not just the Spiritual death of one person, but all who believe in Him. God exists outside of time, therefore this one act was for all time's sake. Jesus, being the Son (identity of God) and infinite in Divine nature, was able to overcome the separation and prove His claims by resurrecting and sticking around for 40 days to appear to over 500 people at one time. (Heb 2:4). Amen












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