Hell Fire?

("Hell, in theological usuage is a place of punishment after death. Hell is generally thought of as a place beneath the surface of the earth where the wicked are tormented by fire, suffering excruciating pain- Somehow the fire causes pain but does not consume. Since man is believed to have an immortal soul, his torment continues forever.)

Catholic Encyclopedia article Hell
"Roman Catholic theologians destinguish four meanings of the term hell: (1) Hell in the strict sense of the term, or the place of punishment for the damned, be they demons or men: (2) The limbo of infants (limbus parvulorum) where those who die in original sin alone, and without personal mortal sin; are confined and undergo some kind of punishment: (3) The limbo of fathers (limbus patrum), in which the souls of the just who died before Christ awaited their admmission to heaven: for in the meantime heaven was closed against them in punishment for the sin of Adam: (4) Purgatory, where the just, who die in venial sin, are cleansed by suffering before their admission to heaven. Also those who still owe a debt of temporal punishment for sin."

(Protestant doctrine differs quite a bit from Catholic, However the roots of the doctrine of "Hell" still remain. Protestants allow only two conditions after death- heaven or hell. And they believe there are two categories of people in the world- the saved and the lost.


But what about children or mentally impaired people? Or what of the people who have never even heard of Christ? It that justice...to take a person who never had a chance to be saved and send him to a hell that burns forever and torment him for all eternity?)


(Most people cling to the doctrine of hell because they believe in the immortality of the soul. But the Bible does not teach that man has an immortal soul! The Bible teaches that man is mortal.)

Matt 5:22 "....but whosever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

(The disciples were quite familiar with the term Jesus used in this passage.He called it Gehenna fire. Gehenna was a well-known geographical location. Gehenna was a valley named after the sons of a man named Hinnom. [Joshua 15:8]


It was a deep valley located about one thousand yards south of the temple mount.This valley was significant because in the middle of the eighth century B.C. a king named Ahaz reigned in Jerusalem. He did not walk in the ways of God , but in the ways of the kings of Israel and made molten images and burnt incense and burnt his children in the fire. [2Chron 28:1-3]. Two generations later another wicked king- Mannesseh- continued the same. [2Chron 33:1-6] This practice continued until the reign of King Josiah. [2Kings 23:7-10] Topheth is another name for Gehenna. By the time of Jermiah, Topheth had become a symbol of total corruption. [Jer 19:1-8] Out of this concept comes the idea of Gehenna fire. By the time of Jesus the valley of Hinnon had become a garbage dump. Fires are said to have been kept burning there. So when Jesus spoke of Gehenna His audience knew exactly what He was talking about. It was a literal valley with a literal fire! No other interpretation of the word Gehenna was known to the people of Jesus' time.)

Mark 9:48 "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

(This scripture says it is the WORM that doesn't die! No....they turn into flies.)

(In the King James Translation of the Bible the translators translated Gehenna as hell, and they also translated Hades as hell. When Jesus spoke of a "Hell" beneath the surface of the earth, He used the equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol. The word in the Greek is Hades.)

(Direction to hell is down)[Ps 55:15}


(deep place) [Job 11:8]


(a place which one can be delivered from)[Prov 23:14]


(And, it is a place one can dig into)[Amos 9:2]


("the abode of the dead"...the grave.)

(Apart from the teachings of Christ the word hell is used seven times in the N.T.)

Acts 2:31 "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption."


(The grave)

James 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell."


(Gehenna)

2Pet 2:4 "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into the chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment."


("tartaros- The name of a subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked." Thayers Greek English Lexicon

(A place of darkness. But fires give off light! This is about the fate of fallen angels, not the fate of wicked people.)

Rev 1:18 "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."


(The grave)

Rev 6:8 "And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name was Death, and Hell followed him. And Power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."


(A metaphor describing widespread death.)

Rev 20:13-14 "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.


And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."


(Here hell is delivers up its dead.)

(There are five references to the lake of fire in the N.T.


The ultimate destruction of the wicked. No lingering death here.)

Rev 19:20 "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."

Rev 20:10 "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, Where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."


(It is the devil who is being thrown into this lake of fire and will be tormented day and night forever and ever. The devil is spirit.The beast and false prophet can be destroyed by fire! The word 'are' in the KJV is in italics. It was not in the original text. The word 'are' is misleading in this verse. Better rendered 'were cast.' The beast and false prophet were cast in the lake of fire one thousand years earlier at Christ's coming. One thousand years later the devil will be cast into the lake of fire.) see[Companion Bible and Diaglott]


[New World Translation]- "already were"


[Revised Standard Version]- "were"

Rev 20:14-15 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.


And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Rev 21:8 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, ;shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death."

(Death is the cessation of life)

Matt 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Ezek 18:20 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die...."

Eccl 9:5 "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."

Ps 6:5 "For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?"

Ps 146:4 "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."

Matt 3:12 "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."


(Burn up? Not burn forever? The fire is said to be unquenchable, but so is your fire in your fireplace unquenched if you do not douse it with water, but let it burn itself out.)

Matt 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."


(Most people don't believe this scripture. They don't believe that the wages for sin is death , but eternal life in hell. Also they don't believe that eternal life is a gift of God because they think they already have it no matter what.)

Mal 4:1 "For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

Mal 4:3 "And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."


(Ashes? How can they be ashes if they are still burning?)