Why do some 'Christians' believe that Hell is not eternal?

[Danoded]

Yes, and they will be destroyed, not suffer forever like the demons and Satan.

Is being destroyed not also eternal suffering? When do you believe they are destroyed?

 

[JackRT]

god will start to burn people forever

As human beings we are bounded in both time and place. That is to say, we are finite. On the other hand we think of God as completely unbounded. God exists outside of both time and space. God is present everywhere and at all times. That is to say, God is infinite. This is the orthodox theistic understanding of God. To compare the finite to the infinite is beyond our human comprehension. Even to compare a grain of sand to Mount Everest falls far, far, far short. All of this brings up a number of questions in my mind.

The first question being “How is it even possible for a finite creature to offend an infinite God?” Could a grain of sand offend Mount Everest?

The second question being “Even if it were possible for the finite to offend the infinite, would the infinite punishment of a finite creature be just?” I will attempt to craft an analogy. You are in a park enjoying a picnic lunch when you glance down and notice an ant crawling across your sandwich. You are offended. How do you react? You have a number of options. You could ignore the ant. You could brush the ant away. You could move to a different location. You could kill the ant. You could kill the entire ant colony. You could capture the ant and confine it and proceed to torture it for several weeks until it finally dies. That last option is quite inadequate as a comparison to hell because hell is infinite in duration whereas the ant can only be tortured for a finite length of time.

To me the concept of hell flies in the face of any concept of a just and compassionate God. Hell would seem to be an entirely human invention based on a vindictive concept of retributory justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of hell. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of God. I completely reject the concept of hell as it is traditionally understood in most Christian churches.

 

[1stcenturylady]

Is being destroyed not also eternal suffering? When do you believe they are destroyed?

Read my original post #20 to see what I believe.

 

[loNerpt]

The most common reason given is that they cannot reconcile the idea of a God who would do that with their idea of a God who must be all-forgiving an all-loving. Therefore, they speculate that hell is for a necessary correction, but not eternal punishment.

Those who are more theologically inclined, point out that there are a few verses in Scripture which seem to suggest universal salvation and that the idea of universal salvation was more common in the early days of the church although it died out afterwards.

- which isn't true ofcourse , the 2nd paragraph.

Simply because "one , in front of you , hating you , never wanting to love you back" ,
never - ever - not never -
torpedoes the silly idea of "universal salvation".

 

[Halbhh]

the opposite to enternal life should be enternal death.

but some verses in the bible say that the souls will exist for ever and can not be destroyed, correct me if am wrong, if this is the case then indeed the people in hell will be tortured for ever and ever. or maybe "for ever" means like 1 million years?

I don't think there are any verses against Christ's wording in Matthew 10:28, but we do want to read all verses fully in context. No one should read to prove any point, ever, but instead humbly listen to hear.

 

[Danoded]

Personally, I believe man was created with an immortal spirit, like the angels. But when Adam sinned, his whole being; body, soul, and spirit; became mortal. He went from life to death. When we are born again we go from death to life, meaning immortality.

This makes me believe humans who are not saved will be cast into the lake of fire and be destroyed completely in an instant. But the lake of fire, itself, will go on and on and on eternally, and the demons will suffer eternally as they are immortal.

Matthew 13 KJB

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Doesn't sound to me like people are destroyed instantly.

 

[Jesus_is_our_Lord]

It doesn't make sense to me at all, what do they think Hell* is for in that case?

Jesus said to rich man that nobody ever crosses from hell to heaven. That seems to indicate that hell is forever.

 

[Danoded]

Jesus said to rich man that nobody ever crosses from hell to heaven. That seems to indicate that hell is forever.

Truth. If Heaven is eternal then it must be that Hell and the suffering there is.

 

[loNerpt]

- which isn't true ofcourse , the 2nd paragraph.

Simply because "one , in front of you , hating you , never wanting to love you back" ,
never - ever - not never -
torpedoes the silly idea of "universal salvation".

...C.S Lewis decribed that evil nature strikingly
in his 'the Screwtape letters'
[little did he know of the meaning that word would become in our days...]

he lets the teacher-demon write to his subordinate demon ,
the latter "guarding his patient" (which is an adamite soul , ofcourse) ,

.the blood [of the cross]...?

- we will march around it , trample upon it -- but never surrender to it" .

"Universal salvation..?
drivel.
universal salvation is only acceptable for those minds , who are infected with this matrix' type dualistic thinking -- and have devised some Hegelian dialectic type 'universal salvation ':
because satan's tree of good and evil thinking fails to understand Truth .

- Period .

 

[dqhall]

It doesn't make sense to me at all, what do they think Hell* is for in that case?

Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" Matthew 24:35 (WEB)

Why would anyone expect hell to endure forever, if the heavens and earth must eventually perish? Hell will be destroyed. In 2 Peter there is a promise God will create a new world.

 

[1stcenturylady]

Matthew 13 KJB

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Doesn't sound to me like people are destroyed instantly.

Darn! Good rebuttal. What do you think is "outer darkness."

 

[eleos1954]

so if i have a soul how can i then be in the grave and dead? how do you explain abraham and his bossom or that jesus went to hell and preached the gospel? and the story with lazarus and the poor man? and we have the angels who are spirit, they have no body and still they are alive...

The story of Lazarus and the poor man is a parable. What is a parable?

A parable, can be:

(1) a true story
(2) an untrue story with common reality objects and scenarios
(3) a fictitious story with unrealistic scenarios

So ... consider this:

Five reasons we can know that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is not meant to be taken literally and that it is a parable.

1. It’s comes in a list of parables. The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “parable” as “a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle.” The story of the rich man and Lazarus comes at the end of a string of parables filled with symbolic, non-literal illustrations (see Luke 15). For instance, in the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus is certainly not teaching that His followers have four legs or eat grass; it’s all metaphor for a greater spiritual point.

2. It contains an impossible conversation. The parable portrays the rich man in “Hades” speaking directly to Lazarus in “Abraham’s bosom.” Can people in heaven have conversations with people in hell? For that matter, do people in heaven really watch people burning in hell? Not according to Jesus, who describes a “great gulf fixed” between the saved and the lost Luke 16:26

3. It uses clear symbolic imagery. The rich man wants Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue (verse 24). This must be symbolic—because it can’t possibly happen physically. How much water could pass through the flames, and what help would it provide someone suffering in hell?

4. It uses figurative expressions. Do the people who died with faith in Christ find their rest in Abraham’s literal bosom? How big is Abraham’s bosom? This must be a figurative expression, for we know that angels will gather the saints at the second coming of Christ (see Matthew 24:30, 31).

5. It would otherwise contradict the rest of Scripture. If this story were literal, it would be hard to explain why the Bible says “in death there is no remembrance” (Psalm 6:5). Instead, those who die are asleep in the grave awaiting resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16). The Bible compares death to sleep over 50 times. See one example by Jesus in John 11:11–14.

 

[Danoded]

Darn! Good rebuttal. What do you think is "outer darkness."

Goes into the parallel of light and darkness. God is the light, and where He does not shine there is darkness, and those that dwell in it such as evildoers, unrepentant sinners and the like, which I believe is what Hell is, God is not there, only satan, his demons and people who did not follow God in this life, suffering eternal torment, whereas Heaven is the light, where God resides in his fullness.

 

[1stcenturylady]

The story of Lazarus and the poor man is a parable. What is a parable?

A parable, can be:

(1) a true story
(2) an untrue story with common reality objects and scenarios
(3) a fictitious story with unrealistic scenarios

So ... consider this:

Five reasons we can know that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is not meant to be taken literally and that it is a parable.

1. It’s comes in a list of parables. The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “parable” as “a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle.” The story of the rich man and Lazarus comes at the end of a string of parables filled with symbolic, non-literal illustrations (see Luke 15). For instance, in the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus is certainly not teaching that His followers have four legs or eat grass; it’s all metaphor for a greater spiritual point.

2. It contains an impossible conversation. The parable portrays the rich man in “Hades” speaking directly to Lazarus in “Abraham’s bosom.” Can people in heaven have conversations with people in hell? For that matter, do people in heaven really watch people burning in hell? Not according to Jesus, who describes a “great gulf fixed” between the saved and the lost Luke 16:26

3. It uses clear symbolic imagery. The rich man wants Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue (verse 24). This must be symbolic—because it can’t possibly happen physically. How much water could pass through the flames, and what help would it provide someone suffering in hell?

4. It uses figurative expressions. Do the people who died with faith in Christ find their rest in Abraham’s literal bosom? How big is Abraham’s bosom? This must be a figurative expression, for we know that angels will gather the saints at the second coming of Christ (see Matthew 24:30, 31).

5. It would otherwise contradict the rest of Scripture. If this story were literal, it would be hard to explain why the Bible says “in death there is no remembrance” (Psalm 6:5). Instead, those who die are asleep in the grave awaiting resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16). The Bible compares death to sleep over 50 times. See one example by Jesus in John 11:11–14.

Jesus usually is the one to say whether it is a parable or not. Jesus is God.

 

[Danoded]

Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" Matthew 24:35 (WEB)

Why would anyone expect hell to endure forever, if the heavens and earth must eventually perish? Hell will be destroyed. In 2 Peter there is a promise God will create a new world.

Yes, there will be a new perfect world, but the people in Hell, and satan along with his demons shall continue to suffer an everlasting torment, whether through torture or through ceasing to exist entirely, which in itself is another form of torture, an eternity of literally not existing, which you could say is quite possibly the worst form of torture.

 

[1stcenturylady]

Goes into the parallel of light and darkness. God is the light, and where He does not shine there is darkness, and those that dwell in it such as evildoers, unrepentant sinners and the like, which I believe is what Hell is, God is not there, only satan, his demons and people who did not follow God in this life, suffering eternal torment, whereas Heaven is the light, where God resides in his fullness.

I always considered it where the dead in Satan go before they are resurrected.

 

[Danoded]

I always considered it where the dead in Satan go before they are resurrected.

And wherever Jesus mentioned outer darkness he added that there will also be weeping and gnashing of the teeth, definitely suffering.

 

[eleos1954]

Jesus usually is the one to say whether it is a parable or not. Jesus is God.

Yes Jesus is God.

key word "usually" not always. John 10:1

 

[DreamerOfTheHeart]

It doesn't make sense to me at all, what do they think Hell* is for in that case?

If it does not make sense, think it out.

The lake of fire destroys the soul of the unrighteous - though does not hurt believers - is destroying the soul a process that takes forever? No.

Rather then judge people, as Jesus said, try and understand their perspective.

Nowhere does it say unbelievers are tortured forever. It says the fire of punishment is eternal. It says the Beast, False Prophet, and Satan go into the lake of fire, where the "smoke of their torment rises forever.

Good article:
https://listverse.com/2015/10/03/10-biblical-reasons-why-hell-might-not-exist/

 

[Kenny'sID]

Why do some 'Christians' believe that He'll is not eternal?

Because they prefer things that way, just that simple.

They buy into what guarantees them/their loved ones heaven at some point regardless of what they do...a very comforting thought.

People create/buy into beliefs that make their life easier all the time, but pretending the bible backs those beliefs doesn't make them so.

I personally believe if we want to do things that will keep us out of heaven, we'd be better off to just do them, but never start lying to ourselves and using those type beliefs to make it all ok. If we do, eventually we will believe the lies we tell ourselves/others tell us, and there will be no hope at all because in our minds we won't be doing anything wrong.

Where as if we just do wrong but at least admit we do wrong/don't make up excuses, there's a chance we'll decide to go Gods way again, or for the first time, because we still recognize the truth we held on to so tightly throughout it all, regardless of how we acted.