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I have been spending time on the Exploring Christianity forum and have found the most common reason given by unbelievers there for not accepting the God of the Bible is the doctrine of hell. They perceive it as a grossly unjust punishment by God, and are understandably disturbed by the concept of God burning people in a lake of fire for all eternity. Because it is one of the more common arguments against Christianity, and also because many Christians, myself included, have a difficult time coming to terms with the doctrine, I thought it would be good to try to develop a coherent understanding of what the Bible teaches about hell that upholds God's goodness, love, righteousness, and justice. After quite a bit of study and contemplation, this is what I have developed. I post it here not as a definitive statement on what hell actually is, but as my thoughts on it as I studied many of the relevant passages. I want you to look at it critically and find flaws in the logic, if there are any. I will seek to defend my understanding, and anyone else who has supporting ideas please feel free to post them as well. Thanks in advance for your help.
Here is a quick sketch of what I am thinking:
Wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12; 13:42; etc.): "Wailing" is a Jewish practice of loud mourning over something or someone. "Gnashing of teeth" is either intense suffering/grief or intense anger. Those who have seen and experienced God's wonderful presence and are then forced to spend eternity separated from it will undoubtedly mourn and suffer grief.
Fire (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:43; etc.) is many times used as a symbol of God's judgment in Scripture. As fire consumes into ashes, so God's judgment upon the wicked rebellious dead would consume them and bring them to utter ruin. Scripture also speaks of fire purifying metals, so it can also be looked upon as such a process.
Jesus also referred to it as outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; 25:30; etc.). In Hebrew, the word for darkness holds the connotation of twisting, or turning, away from the light. So the judgment would be for those who turn/twist away from the light... "God is light".
The worm does not die (Mark 9:48) typified the unending corruption of the soul consumed with sin.
The Greek word we translate torment (Revelation 14:11) literally means "to try against the stone", a metaphor taken from metal working, where the metal being heated would be taken from the fire and rubbed against a test stone to determine it's purity. That word eventually came to also be used of the torture Roman officials used to pry confessions from those they believed to be criminals. In the case of Revelation, the combination of fire and torment could very easily be looked at as a reference to the metal working practice, not the practice of Roman authorities.
The second death (Revelation 20:14; 21:8) is a direct reference back to Genesis 2:17, where God tells Adam that the day he eats of the forbidden tree he will "surely die"... the text literally reads "die die". In other words, die twice: physical death (the separation of the soul from the body) and spiritual death (separation of relationship/communion with God).
So all the different references together, when taken as metaphors, indicate that hell is a place of God's judgment where the soul will be brought to ruin, intense sorrow and grief will be common, a place of turning/twisting away from God's light, where sins corruption does not cease, where they will be tested for purity "day and night" (yet because of sins ongoing corruption they will never become pure), rightly identified as the final spiritual separation from communion with God. Not a burning furnace where people are tortured by flames, immortal fireproof worms, and intense darkness. Yet more like a prison for those who will never be reformed from their sinfulness, who continually twist/turn away from God's light. It is the ruin of the soul's purpose of loving communion with God. It is the quarantine of those contaminated by sin from those who have been purified by the blood of Jesus Christ. What exactly do the lost actually sense/experience? I don't know.
Could it be that the very existence of hell, where the corruption of sin goes on in those who reject God, not be an additional source of wisdom for those who choose to obey God? Does the constant testing of the soul for purity, yet always finding sins corruption, not reveal the justice of God for their continued confinement?
I have also been wrestling with this doctrine because I am currently leading a Bible study. Again, thank you in advance for your corrections and insights.
Here is a quick sketch of what I am thinking:
Wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12; 13:42; etc.): "Wailing" is a Jewish practice of loud mourning over something or someone. "Gnashing of teeth" is either intense suffering/grief or intense anger. Those who have seen and experienced God's wonderful presence and are then forced to spend eternity separated from it will undoubtedly mourn and suffer grief.
Fire (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:43; etc.) is many times used as a symbol of God's judgment in Scripture. As fire consumes into ashes, so God's judgment upon the wicked rebellious dead would consume them and bring them to utter ruin. Scripture also speaks of fire purifying metals, so it can also be looked upon as such a process.
Jesus also referred to it as outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; 25:30; etc.). In Hebrew, the word for darkness holds the connotation of twisting, or turning, away from the light. So the judgment would be for those who turn/twist away from the light... "God is light".
The worm does not die (Mark 9:48) typified the unending corruption of the soul consumed with sin.
The Greek word we translate torment (Revelation 14:11) literally means "to try against the stone", a metaphor taken from metal working, where the metal being heated would be taken from the fire and rubbed against a test stone to determine it's purity. That word eventually came to also be used of the torture Roman officials used to pry confessions from those they believed to be criminals. In the case of Revelation, the combination of fire and torment could very easily be looked at as a reference to the metal working practice, not the practice of Roman authorities.
The second death (Revelation 20:14; 21:8) is a direct reference back to Genesis 2:17, where God tells Adam that the day he eats of the forbidden tree he will "surely die"... the text literally reads "die die". In other words, die twice: physical death (the separation of the soul from the body) and spiritual death (separation of relationship/communion with God).
So all the different references together, when taken as metaphors, indicate that hell is a place of God's judgment where the soul will be brought to ruin, intense sorrow and grief will be common, a place of turning/twisting away from God's light, where sins corruption does not cease, where they will be tested for purity "day and night" (yet because of sins ongoing corruption they will never become pure), rightly identified as the final spiritual separation from communion with God. Not a burning furnace where people are tortured by flames, immortal fireproof worms, and intense darkness. Yet more like a prison for those who will never be reformed from their sinfulness, who continually twist/turn away from God's light. It is the ruin of the soul's purpose of loving communion with God. It is the quarantine of those contaminated by sin from those who have been purified by the blood of Jesus Christ. What exactly do the lost actually sense/experience? I don't know.
Could it be that the very existence of hell, where the corruption of sin goes on in those who reject God, not be an additional source of wisdom for those who choose to obey God? Does the constant testing of the soul for purity, yet always finding sins corruption, not reveal the justice of God for their continued confinement?
I have also been wrestling with this doctrine because I am currently leading a Bible study. Again, thank you in advance for your corrections and insights.
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