What is hell like

[ssammoh]

I get the basic idea but what actually happens there?

I'm asking so I can convince my friend she's not already in hell. She has that mental problem where people think they are dead.

I want to be able to describe exactly how hell is very different from her life even though she IS suffering lately. She's a big drama queen.

So.......ya.

Please don't be too graphic btw.

 

[freezerman2000]

There are several schools of thought on this..I'll list a few
Lake of fire
Isolation in darkness
Complete despair
True separation from God
Sitting at a banquet table,not being able to eat
Complete nothingness,yet being aware
Constant unimaginable pain
Being on an endless journey,unable to get to the ultimate destination
Being in limbo-not being of this plane of existence,nor of Heaven--stuck in between,for eternity.

 

[athenken]

One major distinction is that if they were truly in hell there would be no respite from pain and suffering. There is no sleep, no rest, no recuperation. In our living world, even though we do still have pain and suffering there are at least periods of respite.

 

[ssammoh]

There are several schools of thought on this..I'll list a few
Lake of fire
Isolation in darkness
Complete despair
True separation from God
Sitting at a banquet table,not being able to eat
Complete nothingness,yet being aware
Constant unimaginable pain
Being on an endless journey,unable to get to the ultimate destination
Being in limbo-not being of this plane of existence,nor of Heaven--stuck in between,for eternity.

Quick questions.

Were all of these mentioned in the bible?
What do you mean by complete despair?
How can I prove to my friend that she's not truly separated from God?

 

[Percivale]

What do you mean by hell? Hades where the unsaved wait until the judgment. The lake of fire (probably Gehenna also) is the final destination of those who are condemned at the judgment. In both cases, fire is used in the picture, which wouldn't be literal, since it's not describing anything on earth. Rather, it probably is used because fire is about pain, waste, and destruction. In Jude it's also mentioned that for some "the blackness of darkness is reserved forever. And it is described as eternal punishment/torment. That's about all we have about hell in the Bible. For graphic descriptions you'd have to go to the Quran or various other religions' books.

For your friend, maybe the best you can say is, "trust me, I know you're not dead. If you were dead, how could I be talking to you, since I'm not?"

 

[ebia]

I get the basic idea but what actually happens there?

I'm asking so I can convince my friend she's not already in hell. She has that mental problem where people think they are dead.

I want to be able to describe exactly how hell is very different from her life even though she IS suffering lately. She's a big drama queen.

So.......ya.

Please don't be too graphic btw.

"Hell" really is a convenient label to describe being outside of God's putting to rights of the world. In that sense she's not completely wrong.

Scripture isn't particularly interested in giving a precise description of what that ultimately looks like. The bible is more interested in telling us what God is doing to put creation right and where we can fit into that than answering your kind of question.

 

[ebedmelech]

To keep from a lot of typing, this is a response I agree with about hell:

There are three words translated “Hell” in Scripture:
Gehenna (Greek): The place of punishment (Matthew 5:22,29; 10:28; and James 3:6)
Hades (Greek): The abode of the dead (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 16:23; Acts 2:27)
Sheol (Hebrew): The grave (Psalm 9:17; 16:10)

There are those who accept that Hell is a place of punishment, but believe that the punishment is to be annihilated—to cease conscious existence. They can’t conceive that the punishment of the wicked will be conscious and eternal. If they are correct, then a man like Adolph Hitler, who was responsible for the deaths of millions, is being “punished” merely with eternal sleep. His fate is simply to return to the non-existent state he was in before he was born, where he doesn’t even know that he is being punished.

However, Scripture paints a different story. The rich man who found himself in Hell (Luke 16:19-31) was conscious. He was able to feel pain, to thirst, and to experience remorse. He wasn’t asleep in the grave; he was in a place of “torment.” If Hell is a place of knowing nothing or a reference to the grave into which we go at death, Jesus’ statements about Hell make no sense. He said that if your hand, foot, or eye causes you to sin, it would be better to remove it than to “go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-48).

The Bible refers to the fate of the unsaved with such fearful words as the following:

• “Shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2)
• “Everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46)
• “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:51)
• “Fire unquenchable” (Luke 3:17)
• “Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” (Romans 2:8,9)
• “Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
• “Eternal fire...the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 7,13)

Revelation 14:10,11 tells us the final, eternal destiny of the sinner: “He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone...the smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night."

Link: What is hell Like? According to Bible. | Be a Christian 4 Rapture

I would encourage you to study these passages very carefully for the sake of your friend. With your friend having a mental disorder you don't want to tell her something that is not true and cause her more anguish.

 

[rdcast]

I get the basic idea but what actually happens there?

I'm asking so I can convince my friend she's not already in hell. She has that mental problem where people think they are dead.

I want to be able to describe exactly how hell is very different from her life even though she IS suffering lately. She's a big drama queen.

So.......ya.

Please don't be too graphic btw.

I would encourage you to study these passages very carefully for the sake of your friend. With your friend having a mental disorder you don't want to tell her something that is not true and cause her more anguish.
[/quote]
It is scriptural that God alone can both create and destroy souls for good reason. The punishment is consciously falling into eternal destruction by fire. It is God's way of dismissing all that has no part in His new Heaven and new earth. How long God allows it to take for the damnable soul to be consumed and finally snuffed out by the blaze is unknown. Heaven help us!

Bless her heart, the young suffer more than the old.

 

[Godel]

If the purpose is to convince your friend that she is not in hell now, I would say the thing to do is make her laugh, or get her in a situation where you can catch her laughing.

Then just tell her, "see, you're not in hell, since there would be no laughing in hell." Hell is described as unstopping torment, "weeping and gnashing of teeth" - nothing but agony, so there would be no laughter ever.

Just a thought.

 

[rdcast]

If the purpose is to convince your friend that she is not in hell now, I would say the thing to do is make her laugh, or get her in a situation where you can catch her laughing.

Then just tell her, "see, you're not in hell, since there would be no laughing in hell." Hell is described as unstopping torment, "weeping and gnashing of teeth" - nothing but agony, so there would be no laughter ever.

Just a thought.

Excellent exercise and very truthful. But the eternal agony impression is where the debate emerges.

 

[Godel]

Excellent exercise and very truthful. But the eternal agony impression is where the debate emerges.

I don't think the "eternal" part really matters either way in this case. Either way, it is typically understood that the time spent in hell, whether permanent or not, is agony for the duration.

 

[rdcast]

I don't think the "eternal" part really matters either way in this case. Either way, it is typically understood that the time spent in hell, whether permanent or not, is agony for the duration.

If you'd care to review these videos, I'd be interested in your thoughts.
Hell is a Lie part 1 - YouTube
Hell is a Lie part 2 - YouTube

 

[Godel]

If you'd care to review these videos, I'd be interested in your thoughts.

I think they leave out some pertinent details to make their case.

However, I think discussing it here would be derailing the thread from what the OP is going for.

 

[rdcast]

How can I prove to my friend that she's not truly separated from God?

If she has worked to develop demons in her life, then she may have separated herself form Him in a very real sense.

 

[ssammoh]

What do you mean by hell? Hades where the unsaved wait until the judgment. The lake of fire (probably Gehenna also) is the final destination of those who are condemned at the judgment. In both cases, fire is used in the picture, which wouldn't be literal, since it's not describing anything on earth. Rather, it probably is used because fire is about pain, waste, and destruction. In Jude it's also mentioned that for some "the blackness of darkness is reserved forever. And it is described as eternal punishment/torment. That's about all we have about hell in the Bible. For graphic descriptions you'd have to go to the Quran or various other religions' books.

For your friend, maybe the best you can say is, "trust me, I know you're not dead. If you were dead, how could I be talking to you, since I'm not?"

I tried that on her and she was like

"Well you don't have to be real. I can be imagining you're here."

 

[ssammoh]

"Hell" really is a convenient label to describe being outside of God's putting to rights of the world. In that sense she's not completely wrong.

Scripture isn't particularly interested in giving a precise description of what that ultimately looks like. The bible is more interested in telling us what God is doing to put creation right and where we can fit into that than answering your kind of question.

So basically you're telling me that my friend isn't completely wrong when she says she thinks she died and went to hell...

 

[ssammoh]

To keep from a lot of typing, this is a response I agree with about hell:

She's freaking out about the fact they aren't literal...

 

[ssammoh]

I would encourage you to study these passages very carefully for the sake of your friend. With your friend having a mental disorder you don't want to tell her something that is not true and cause her more anguish.

It is scriptural that God alone can both create and destroy souls for good reason. The punishment is consciously falling into eternal destruction by fire. It is God's way of dismissing all that has no part in His new Heaven and new earth. How long God allows it to take for the damnable soul to be consumed and finally snuffed out by the blaze is unknown. Heaven help us!

Bless her heart, the young suffer more than the old.[/QUOTE]

But the fire isnt literal

 

[ebia]

So basically you're telling me that my friend isn't completely wrong when she says she thinks she died and went to hell...

Not completely ...

 

[ssammoh]

If the purpose is to convince your friend that she is not in hell now, I would say the thing to do is make her laugh, or get her in a situation where you can catch her laughing.

Then just tell her, "see, you're not in hell, since there would be no laughing in hell." Hell is described as unstopping torment, "weeping and gnashing of teeth" - nothing but agony, so there would be no laughter ever.

Just a thought.

Okay I'm keeping track of...

1. Every time she laughs
2. Every time she smiles
3. Every time something good happens
4. Every time she eats good food

sound like a good idea? I hope it works.