Originally posted by s0uljah
So, who here believes that Hell is not eternal punishment, but instead, is destruction? [/QUOTE
According to scripture Hell or properly Hades is not destruction but Gehenna is.
Heres a little more detailed info.
This is the common transliteration into English of the corresponding Greek word hai'des. It perhaps means the unseen place. In all, the word Hades occurs ten times in the earliest manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Mt 11:23; 16:18; Lu 10:15; 16:23; Ac 2:27, 31; Re 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14.
The King James Version translates hai'des as hell in these texts, but the Revised Standard Version renders it Hades, with the exception of Matthew 16:18, where powers of death is used, though the footnote reads gates of Hades. Hades rather than hell is used in many modern translations.
The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (from Genesis to Malachi) uses the word Hades 73 times, employing it 60 times to translate the Hebrew word she´ohl', commonly rendered Sheol. Luke, the divinely inspired writer of Acts, definitely showed Hades to be the Greek equivalent of Sheol when he translated Peters quotation from Psalm 16:10. (Ac 2:27) Inversely, nine modern Hebrew translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures use the word Sheol to translate Hades at Revelation 20:13, 14; and the Syriac translation uses the related word Shiul.
In all but two cases in which the word Hades is used in the Christian Greek Scriptures it is related to death, either in the verse itself or in the immediate context; the two other instances are discussed in the following paragraph. Hades does not refer to a single grave (Gr., ta'phos), or to a single tomb (Gr., mne'ma), or to a single memorial tomb (Gr., mne·mei'on), but to the common grave of mankind, where the dead and buried ones are unseen. It thus signifies the same as the corresponding word Sheol, and an examination of its use in all its ten occurrences bears out this fact.
In its first occurrence, at Matthew 11:23, Jesus Christ, in chiding Capernaum for its disbelief, uses Hades to represent the depth of debasement to which Capernaum would come down, in contrast with the height of heaven to which she assumed to exalt herself. A corresponding text is found at Luke 10:15. Note the similar way in which Sheol is used at Job 11:7, 8.
Concerning the Christian congregation, Jesus said, at Matthew 16:18, that the gates of Hades [powers of death, RS] will not overpower it. Similarly, King Hezekiah, when on the verge of death, said: In the midst of my days I will go into the gates of Sheol. (Isa 38:10) It, therefore, becomes apparent that Jesus promise of victory over Hades means that its gates will open to release the dead by means of a resurrection, even as was the case with Christ Jesus himself.
Since Hades refers to the common grave of mankind, a place rather than a condition, Jesus entered within the gates of Hades when buried by Joseph of Arimathea. On Pentecost of 33 C.E., Peter said of Christ: Neither was he forsaken in Hades nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses. (Ac 2:25-27, 29-32; Ps 16:10) Whereas the gates of Hades (Mt 16:18) were still holding David within their domain in Peters day (Ac 2:29), they had swung open for Christ Jesus when his Father resurrected him out of Hades. Thereafter, through the power of the resurrection given him (Joh 5:21-30), Jesus is the Holder of the keys of death and of Hades.Re 1:17, 18.
Illustrative Use. At Revelation 6:8 Hades is figuratively pictured as closely following after the rider of the pale horse, personalized Death, to receive the victims of the death-dealing agencies of war, famine, plagues, and wild beasts.
The sea (which at times serves as a watery grave for some) is mentioned in addition to Hades (the common earthen grave), for the purpose of stressing the inclusiveness of all such dead ones when Revelation 20:13, 14 says that the sea, death, and Hades are to give up or be emptied of the dead in them. Thereafter, death and Hades (but not the sea) are cast into the lake of fire, the second death. They thereby figuratively die out of existence, and this signifies the end of Hades (Sheol), the common grave of mankind, as well as of death inherited through Adam.
The remaining text in which Hades is used is found at Luke 16:22-26 in the account of the rich man and Lazarus. The language throughout the account is plainly parabolic and cannot be construed literally in view of all the preceding texts. Note, however, that the rich man of the parable is spoken of as being buried in Hades, giving further evidence that Hades means the common grave of mankind.
