A HOT question!
- Thread starter packermann
- Start date
Ultimately, yes.
Deu_32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
It is that most have a misunderstanding of what the Bible defines "hell" as.
Upvote
0
- Nov 30, 2003
- 1,446
- 375
- 71
- Faith
- Catholic
- Politics
- US-Republican
I am not so sure about that. The Jesus also referred to Hell as a place of outer darkness. How can Hell have a literal fire and a literal darkness? Would not all that fire light up Hell?
Also, one thing that is true – their worm dies not. So even if the fire is literal it cannot ever consume those in Hell. It appears that the fire will not behave on its inhabitants the way fire now behaves.
Whether it is literal or figurative, our Lord seemed to be stressing to us how unbearable the pain of Hell will be. The one thing I know about hell is that it is separation from God. God is the Great Gentleman (C.S Lewis). He gives to those who want nothing from God what they wished for. Heaven is filled with those who say to God “Thy will be done” and Hell is where God says to those in there “thy will be done”. This may sound like a great party in Hell. But it is nothing like that at all. We were made to love and serve God. To be condemned never to love and serve God is the greatest of all punishment – it is like being in a literal fire. And this will last for all eternity.
That might not seem be a big deal to atheists and others who abandoned God. After all, that is what they wanted. But they do not realize how much they depend on God for their own happiness. We all experience some of the kindness of God. Theologians call this common grace – grace given to all, the just and the unjust. But this common grace to all will only last until the return of Christ. We are all able to love and be loved only because of God, who is the Source of all love. But Love will be completely taken away forever in Hell. Imagine a place of no love – no ability to love or to experience love for all eternity. That would definitely be loneliness and darkness. I recall how it felt when my fiancée dumped me or when my brother died. The emotional was pain so great that it felt like physical pain. I can understand how a person can be in so much emotional pain that he is willing to experience the physical pain of death. I felt like that at times, of committing suicide. So imagine the emotional pain of those in hell who realize but too late that the Ultimate Lover of their souls is God and they will be separated from Him forever! The pain of regret will be so great that they will feel like they are in a lake fire. And this will be for all eternity.
This is just a thought.
Upvote
0
- Nov 21, 2008
- 51,352
- 10,607
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- SDA
- Marital Status
- Married
Jesus also said that the Pharisees were blind.
Real fire and brimstone - but it is for people that choose darkness over light.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
God the Son really came to a real world with real people - and was the light ... spiritual light.
Upvote
0
Soul is not aethereal, immaterial. The "living soul", simply means a living creature or living being, the whole of the person or creature.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Upvote
0
Hell is on earth. Hell is mostly often simply the grave, pit, or that which is dug. Hence the phrase Let us go a helling for potatoes. It can also sometimes reference the lower places within the crust of the earth which have been burning from the material left by the flood of Noah (oil, coal, gas), that God will bring forth to meet the fire from heaven, just as the waters of Noah met.
So it depends on what you refer to as 'hell'.
In the Lake of fire to come, the wicked are raised as they died, same flesh, and they perish as such (Rev. 20).
Not a single person is 'burning' in 'hellfire' now. The wicked who have died are simply in their graves awaiting their resurrection unto execution of judgment, as with 99.9% of the saints (exceptions, (translated) Enoch, Elijah, (resurrected and gone up) Moses, Firstfruits and Jesus, all having glorified flesh in the 3rd heaven, a real place "up") who are awaiting their resurrection and going up at Jesus return.
Upvote
0
renniks
Well-Known Member
Then why did Jesus tell the story about a man currently being in a literal hell, in his time? I don't buy the "It's all a parable." Yes, it is, but Jesus was not making up the concept of where we go when we die for a good story. That would be verifying a myth about what the after life was like.
Upvote
0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums
Jonaitis
Soli Deo Gloria
- Jan 4, 2019
- 5,225
- 4,212
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Protestant
- Marital Status
- Single
- Politics
- US-Libertarian
I do not think so.
'Fire' is metaphorical to magnify the nature of hell. In almost every place where Jesus says the word 'hell,' in the original Greek it is 'Gehenna' which means 'the Valley of Hinnom.' This was a literal place located outside of Jerusalem where the residents burned trash and human excrement. When Jesus preached about the eternal Gehenna, he was giving a shocking, yet relevant, illustration to compare the likeness of hell to his audience. So 'fire' was connected with this idea.
If you read in other places, hell is described as a place of outer darkness and gloom, and in Revelation the place outside the gate of the new Jerusalem.
Upvote
0
nonaeroterraqueous
Nonexistent Member
On a starry night go outside and look up. There, you will see great lakes of fire that burn endlessly, and there you will see an outer darkness where a person can fall forever with no end. For all the fire of a billion stars, it remains dark, empty and lonely. All the human souls that ever lived could be poured into it, and no one would ever see another person for all of eternity. To be cast into that hell is to be cast out of this Garden of Eden we call Earth. We are not cast into a prison, so much as we are cast out of a Paradise.
Upvote
0
faroukfarouk
Fading curmudgeon
If there is not, why does the Lord Jesus warn against it so often? and if not, What is salvation by the work of Christ at the Cross from?
Upvote
0
- Nov 30, 2003
- 1,446
- 375
- 71
- Faith
- Catholic
- Politics
- US-Republican
I did not intend to bring up my Catholic faith when I started this thread but I cannot help it with this comment.
Jesus held up a piece of bread and said "THIS is my body". Now, why would Jesus talk say this and be only talking figuratively and yet when He talks about the fires of hell He must be talking literally? In three of the gospels, including one of Paul's letters, this is recorded, and in the Gospel of John Jesus said "Amen, Amen! Unless you eat the flesh of Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in you" (John 6:53). He started by saying "Amen, Amen", meaning that He what He says is actually true. Paul wrote that he who eats His body in an unworthy manner eats to his condemnation (1 Corinthians 11:29). Why would a person be condemned for unworthily eating something that is just a symbol?
Just because one questions whether there be a literal fire in hell, that does mean that he does not believe that hell is a literal place of everlasting torment.
Upvote
0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums
Similar threads
