This is a rather controversial topic, and certainly, I will come across people who disagree with me. Though, it seems that most of my topics are controversial, and only two of my regular forty viewers per day have had the courage to speak against me. In both instances I did further research and rendered an update.
This topic spawned yesterday when I was on Yahoo Answers. In the religion section, you will find more theology of the Flying Spaghetti Monster than anything else. I mean not to persecute such a belief system, but it is often difficult to sift through and find questions regarding Christianity and the Bible. However yesterday, I found this question and answer.
Q: If somebody who is bad dies, do they go to Hell?
A: No, there is no Hell! God detests eternal damnation!
This is one reason that I do not believe in the God which the Jehovah's Witness will describe. In one instance, they will call Him omnibenevolent. In another, they will say that He does not punish the evil; that He does no justice. Is it not a stretch to call such a being 'good'?
But isn't it a stretch to call a being that sends people to burn for eternity 'good'? That seems like overkill!
Hell can best be a described as a place of separation from God. When people are sent there, they do not stop sinning and look into the darkness in blind innocence.
Consider the rich man in Luke 16. He did not say 'Warn Lazarus!' he said Send Lazarus to help me! This man lived in separation from God, and when he died, he was not restored in Hell. He was just as selfish as he always was. When somebody goes to Hell, they are not paying only for the sins of their lifetime. They are paying for the sins that they continue to commit.
But they are being tortured. There is no way out. What is to stop them from committing these sins if they must?
I challenge anybody reading this to find a Bible verse which states that Hell is a place of eternal torture. It is a place of eternal internal torment.
When the great Messiah came into the world, He spoke in parables. It is a place of outer darkness and fire. Bring a candle into a dark room. What does the candle cast? Light. Fire casts light. Fire and darkness cannot exist in the same place. Therefore it is safe to assume that Jesus was speaking metaphorically.
The wicked shall be turned into Hell. Psalms 9:16 The wicked are not only in Hell, they become Hell. They are what defines Hell. Their torment, anguish, and internal pain define Hell and constitute the lake of fire. The smoke of their torment rises forever. Revelations 14:11 Anybody who has ever felt an ounce of pain knows that it does not exhale smoke. This was an analogy to describe the everlasting torment that people feel in Hell.
Since 'smoke' was used to describe their torment here, I think fire is used regularly to describe it. The unquenchable fire is an analogy to describe the unquenchable depression and anguish that the occupants of Hell feel. The smoke of this fire is emitted for eternity because they will never stop feeling the torment of regret.
When Jesus describes Hell, He describes "weeping and gnashing of the teeth." Both of these elements are great signs of depression and regret. He also describes at times, "beatings".
If all residents of Hell are being burnt, suffering their own personal eternal torture, how in the world do they summon the strength to swim through fire and deliver a beating? Further, to what end would they beat you? You are drenched in fire. What could a fist possibly add to this? Also, what could chains possibly add?
Paul the apostle described the residents of Hell in saying, "They are bound in outer darkness." Many people gather from this that everybody in Hell is in chains. That is not how I perceive it. Rather, I see darkness and bound, not as two separate elements of this sentence. I think the apostle is saying here that darkness binds them.
I contend that people in Hell are not burning in a literal fire, but a fire of their own anguish. They receive beatings because the dudes in Hell are in Hell because they're not very nice. They were probably sent to Hell for beating people up.
Is the devil running the show?
No. The devil is a prisoner just like everybody else. Jesus mentions that the devil is there because the devil is not a pleasant guy to be around. Imagine you are being sent to prison, and one of the guards says to you "Hey, you'd better watch out for Bill The Butcher and his gang." While Bill The Butcher is clearly a very feared man in prison, he does not run the show.
If this article has brought you comfort, you are wrong. If the Creator of the universe is using 'fire' as a parable to describe something, it is probably not very pleasant. Further, Jesus warned of Hell in every other sermon which He delivered. This is no place that you want to be.
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