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NOTE: This page is under construction and revision. The final section is incomplete at this time. Some links on this page may be broken. We ask for your patience as we clean up and finish this important work. |
HE material on this chart represents an overview of my research into the Doctrines of Hell and Eternal Conscious Torment. Like many, I once was a firm believer that the Bible taught these doctrines absolutely, explicitly and without question. I felt that one would have to be either blind or a heretic to not see the overwhelming Biblical support for it. There is no question that the Bible has a lot to say about God's judgment against sin, retribution , and the final state of the wicked. We are not left in doubt on these issues; they deserve our utmost consideration, and our greatest attention to detail as we prayerfully study them.
I found that as my faith in the infallibility of scripture increased, I became more and more uncomfortable with the doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment in Hell. I began to ask myself, Does the Bible really teach this doctrine, or am I reading in more than what's there? Does the Bible really present these teachings the way we hear preachers present them? Eventually I began to see that the Bible scientifically defines its own terms and its own language. When I began to rely on this instead of my own assumptions of what I felt the Bible had to teach, my confidence in the truth of Eternal Conscious Torment collapsed entirely. A Biblical doctrine with such grave consequences as the eternal destiny of mankind must be explicit. It must be explicit beyond any reasonable doubt. It must frame its language in terms beyond the ability of reasonable minds to misunderstand it. It is my contention that the Doctrine of Eternal Torment completely fails in this regard. In order for it to be maintained we are asked not only to read in absent words and concepts which stretch the limits of credibility, but oftentimes to read exactly the opposite of what the scriptures so clearly say; even when it is obvious that divine care has been taken to prevent us from drawing such conclusions. A doctrine of such magnitude surely cannot stand on such a brittle, teetering foundation. Yes, the New Testament contains many references to fire, brimstone, weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness etc. Modern Evangelical theology lumps all these terms into one large category named 'hell'. But how many have ever taken these verses and their contexts, laid them side by side, and tried to get an idea of the big picture. It is my conviction that when you try to arrange all these verses into one big picture called 'hell', the pieces simply do not fit. Of course the easy thing to do is put the pieces away, trusting that other, wiser students of God's Word have believed that all these refer to 'hell', so they must. But could it be that the pieces fit together a better way; one in which each piece fits perfectly to form a 'big picture' very unlike what we have been taught about hell? I believe the pieces do fit together, and this work is intended to give the reader an idea of what that big picture might look like. |
I have endeavored to classify, not only those verses which contain the word 'hell', but every major passage which is commonly brought to bear on this subject.
Keep in mind that just because a verse mentions 'hell', that does not mean it supports this doctrine. That is the entire purpose of this chart: to consider what these verses actually say and do not say. Not what we want them to say, or assume they say. It is also not enough to offer verses which speak of men and women being 'cast into hell'. The average advocate of this doctrine unleashes a barrage of such verses and believes he or she has proved something. In reality, a verse that is offered as a proof for the doctrine of eternal torment must do three things:
It will be shown that when carefully examined, NONE of the 'proof-texts' offered in support of eternal torment meet these criteria, and in many cases make such interpretations an impossibility. This study has not been approached as an apology: that is, I have not written with a goal of 'explaining away' these passages as if I wished they did not exist. I feel these passages have meanings which are an indispensable part of God's plan but which have been seriously misrepresented by the doctrine of eternal torment. It is therefore the purpose, not only to show that these verses are inadequate for upholding that doctrine, but to show how they are better interpreted by an alternate meaning. If anything, this chart stands as an invitation to the Bible Student to dig deeper. Sometimes things are not quite as cut and dried as we once thought they were. We should be open to embrace new truths if our much cherished beliefs are found to be in error. Truth never has anything to fear from a careful and scrupulous investigation of the facts. It is my prayer that the information presented here will prompt others to begin their own investigation and to themselves make true the command of the Apostle Paul: |
PROVE ALL THINGS, HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD
1 Thessalonians 5:21
1 Thessalonians 5:21
SECTION I -- Verses in Which 'Hell' Has Been Rendered From Gehenna The word 'hell' in the English Authorized Version is rendered from three different Greek words: Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus. Scholars are generally in agreement that the Greek words Hades and Tartarus should never have been rendered 'hell' and this mistranslation has been a source of untold confusion. However, many scholars also agree that 'hell' is the proper translation of the Greek gehenna . In this section we will explore the twelve New Testament references in which this word appears. It should go without saying that if 'hell' is a place of eternal conscious torment, such a doctrine should explicitly be taught in those twelve verses containing the only Greek word which has legitimately (at least according to orthodox tradition) been rendered 'hell' in our English Bibles. A careful examination of these passages will show that NONE of them speak of eternal conscious torment. The confusion for most readers isn't what these verses actually say, but is rooted in the assumptions which are brought to the text upon reading them. For example, when one reads a verse stating that some shall be 'cast into hellfire (gk. gehenna)', they assume that such a verse is talking about a place of eternal torment beyond this life, although this concept is entirely absent. Such verses are then quoted as 'proof' that such a place of eternal conscious torment exists. As we will show in this section, gehenna is not the hell of Christian tradition. In fact, a careful examination of the true meaning of this word is fatal to the popular conceptions of hell. I ask the reader to carefully consider the twelve occurrences of Gehenna listed below, noting that none of them teach eternal conscious torment unless these assumptions are already implanted in the mind of the reader. The question we must ask is: If these verses do not explicitly teach eternal conscious torment, then where are the verses that do? Let THOSE verses be quoted, if they may be found at all, in defense of this doctrine and not these which rely completely upon our assumptions. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? |
Notes | Expanded Notes |
| Matt 5:22 | But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion) Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | It is of no small
consequence that these first three appearances of Gehenna appear in what is
commonly referred to as 'the sermon on the mount'. An understanding of this
sermon should never be divorced from the unique purpose for which it was given;
namely to prepare the hearts of men (Jews specifically) for the promised Kingdom
of God which had drawn nigh unto them. At this point, this kingdom was being offered only to the Jewish nation, and as such, only a Jew would know what Gehenna was. All speculation aside, Gehenna is NOT 'hell'. Gehenna was, and is a valley which lies to the south east of Jerusalem. The valley was well known to the Jewish people because of its notorious history and the idolatrous practices which had been committed there. See: (Josh 15:8; 18:16), (Neh 11:30), (Jer 7:31; 19:4–5; 32:35), (2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6; 2 Chr 28:3; 33:6), (2 Kgs 23:10; cf. vv 13–14), (Jer 7:29–34; 19:1–15). It is a serious mistake to ignore this Old Testament evidence, and the warnings associated with this valley. This evidence is the KEY to understanding how Jesus used this word when warning of future punishment. To find a doctrine of eternal torment in these verses, Christians must ignore this evidence, and instead attach a definition to the Greek word gehenna, which is nowhere to be found in the Bible, but is rather one assigned to it by apostate Jewish teaching after they had come under the influence of Greek philosophy. See extended note on Gehenna immediately below this section. Gehenna then becomes at its onset a fitting description for the punishment of the wicked, but nothing here hints at the 'hell' of modern theology Modern theology not only must use speculation and tricks of language and logic to turn Gehenna into 'hell', but they also hide these processes from the average Bible student by simply rendering Gehenna as 'hell' without making them aware of the convoluted process by which this was accomplished. Let the reader well mark this: Gehenna is a valley near Jerusalem, and any attempt to find a place of eternal conscious torment associated with this word must be justified elsewhere. |
This first occurrence of
Gehenna in the New Testament should immediately cast the popular notion of hell in a suspicious light. The verse makes little sense and stands as an enigma if the traditional meaning of Gehenna is true. What possible logical reason is there, and what type of mental justification can we make for the differences in punishment for saying 'Raca', on the one hand, and 'thou fool' on the other, that one should be punishable by being brought before the Sanhedrin, and the other eternal conscious torment in flames for all eternity ? Again, to ignore the Biblical Old Testament references to the idolatrous practices associated with this 'accursed valley' in favor of the teaching of eternal misery is to miss the entire point of Jesus' teaching. It is widely thought that in the time of Christ the Valley was used as the city trash dump and fires there were kept continually burning to consume the refuse. Some see in this a justification for making this valley a fitting symbol of hell. This notion, though widely held is however of little authority as it was only first proposed by the Rabbi Kimchi around the 11th century. Whatever Jesus meant here, the reader must first grasp the fact that there is nothing in this passage denoting any punishment inflicted other than upon the living. There is not a hint of any punishment beyond this life. Jesus may have been threatening punishment by execution and the burning of the body in the accursed valley (a shameful death and fate signifying one's unworthiness for an inheritance in the Kingdom of God ), or may have been warning that a person is in danger of the type of future judgment threatened by the Old Testament prophets (See Jeremiah 19 and extended note below this section.) In either case, nothing is threatened here of an eternal fate of torture beyond this life. |
| Matt 5:29 | And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | See Below ↓ |
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| Matt 5:30 | And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | ||
| Matt 18:9 | And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion) Punishment
Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | Carries the same thought as the two preceding verses though not appearing in the same context. These verses are however directly connected with the three passage listed from Mark 9 which are parallel passages. As explained below, the way in which Jesus used this word is fatal to the belief that he ever intended us to understand gehenna to mean eternal punishment in the afterlife | |
| Mark 9:43-44 | And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | These verses from Mark 9 are famously quoted as proof-texts for the doctrine of eternal torment. Unfortunately they fail miserably in doing that. Note the ominous quotation that ends each; 'Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.' How does this teach eternal conscious torment? What is rarely explained is that this phrase - 'Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched' - is a quotation of Isa 66:24 shown in the next section. There the fire and worms feed upon CARCASSES, which are literally DEAD BODIES. By all valid rules of interpretation these verses have nothing to do with the conscious torment of immortal souls in hell, nor can they be made to do so without violating the text. Those who seek to use these in proof of this doctrine need to answer one simple question; how do you eternally torment a dead body? The following facts must accounted for: 1) There is no mention of physical torment spoken of in these passages 2) There is no mention of an immortal soul in the passages. 3) They are a quotation of an Old Testament passage. 4) That Old Testament passage says that the 'fire' and 'worms' feed on DEAD BODIES, not immortal souls. Oddly , some modern theologians, recognizing these problems but not willing to live with the implications, say that because 'Gehenna' in these verses MUST refer to an eternal hell, then the 'Carcasses' and 'Worms' of Isa 66:24 MUST be referring to immortal souls. God will ultimately judge this type of 'scholarship' which would void His word in order to maintain tradition. Let them produce those verses WHICH CLEARLY TEACH THAT GEHENNA MUST REFER TO A PLACE OF ETERNAL CONSCIOUS TORMENT BEYOND THIS LIFE. Let my readers mark well this fact: These verses, some of the strongest quoted in favor of eternal conscious torment, are speaking of the burning of dead corpses only! Because these verses are directly related to Matthew 18:9 and 5:29-100, all six references are thus irrelevant concerning eternal conscious torment. |
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| Mark 9:45-46 | And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | ||
| Mark 9:47-48 | And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | ||
| 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. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | The two verses shown to the left are also classic proof-texts for those who wish to retain a belief in eternal torment. But unless one already has been indoctrinated with this teaching, one has to ask how these verses can teach that at all? Far from saying that immortal souls burn forever in Gehenna, it is Gehenna which will destroy both the body AND the soul. The first thing to keep in mind here is that the standard interpretation of these verves assumes that man possesses am 'immoral soul'. To assume such a belief without proof from scripture, and then use such an assumption to read 'eternal torment' into these passages is simply begging the question. Unless man possesses an immortal soul, these verses do not, and can not have anything to do with torment or punishment beyond this life - either now, or in the time of the resurrection. We are not to fear the death of the body because God has purposed to give life (soul, Gk. psyche) back to every man in the resurrection. Man does not ultimately hold the power of life (soul) and death. We are to fear the one who can destroy not only our body, but ultimately our prospects of any future life in the age to come by casting us into Gehenna, a fate which was reserved for those unworthy of any inheritance in God's kingdom. Evangelical theology postulates that 'destroy' here does not mean 'destroy' but 'torment eternally'. The only thing 'tortured' in an explanation such as this is the language of scripture which wears on its face an illegitimate attempt to squeeze in a doctrine where it doesn't belong. Also see our work: Man Became a Living Soul - Chapter One - What is Man? |
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| Luke 12:5 | But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | ||
| Matt 23:33 | Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? | 'Eternal' (Gk. Aionion)
Punishment Implied (See Notes and Verses in Next Section) |
No | An incredibly salient verse for understanding Jesus' teaching on
Gehenna, as it crucial to an understanding of what a 'Gehenna judgment' is, and how long it lasts. This comment toward the Pharisees stands as a scathing rebuke of Jesus toward the religious and political leaders of his day, but has nothing to do with the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell. The "Damnation of Hell" is literally "The Judgment of Gehenna". This concept was not foreign to the Jews but well known from their own scriptures, and is in fact the national coming judgment warned of by the prophet Jeremiah (See Jeremiah 19 and extended note below this section) Mark well: The Jews would undergo a severe punishment which would entail the destruction of their nation and exclusion from the blessings of the Gospel. But note: 1) This judgment has absolutely nothing to do with "hell". 2) This judgment could not possibly last 'forever' as the Jews are promised a future resurrection and restoration. See Section VIII for more details. |
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| Matt 23:15 | Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. | Undetermined by word usage | No | 'Child of hell' =Son of Gehenna. See above notes. The Pharisees were intent on making proselytes who were no less worthy of the judgment they themselves deserved. Once again, the verse speaks nothing of eternal conscious torment. | |
| 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. | Undetermined by word usage | No | Who but a Jew would understand how a tongue might be set on fire of Gehenna? The implication is that the tongue has more power to destroy than any of our members. It is 'set on fire of Gehenna' because to the Jews Gehenna represented the ultimate symbol of death and destruction - a destruction they would soon experience at the hands of the Romans. | |
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Extended Note on the Use of the Greek
word Gehenna in the New Testament
It was only after the closing of the Old Testament, when the Jews began to come under the influence of Greek thought, that the teaching concerning gehenna began to change. The concept of the immortality of the soul led the Jews to begin considering thoughts of reward and punishment in the afterlife and this led to them associating gehenna with a place of torment for the soul. But this raises a very serious question, and one that most Christians haven never taken the time to consider. If it can be demonstrated that the concept of a fiery punishment in the afterlife arose only due to the influence of the pagan Greeks, and not as the result of anything taught by the inspired Old Testament prophets, then why should we believe it? Why should we believe that Jesus used the word gehenna, not in any sense in which it was used by the prophets, but rather how it came to be used by apostate Jews under the influence of Greek philosophy? We know that gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom, in the Old Testament never signified a place of torment for the soul in the afterlife. We know that this definition only developed after the closing of the Old Testament canon. We know that the belief in a fiery torment in the afterlife only arose due to the influence of Greek philosophy. Are we then to accept that Jesus used this word in a way that no inspired Old Testament writer ever did? For anyone who accepts that we are to believe the scriptures alone, these questions should once again settle the whole matter.
When Jesus warned the scribes and Pharisees:
“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (literally the judgment of gehenna)” (Matthew 23:33)
What exactly was he warning them of? To this question we can give a conclusive scriptural answer - one that comes from the mouths of the inspired prophets and not the Greek philosophers:
“Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.” (Jeremiah 19:1–3)
“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.” (Jeremiah 19:6–9)
Here is the real "Judgment of Gehenna". It is a stark warning that the Jewish nation would be destroyed for their unbelief and apostasy - a judgment they would not escape. It is a warning of this judgment, spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah in the very place signified by the word gehenna, the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, that Jews would not heed. It is a warning of a judgment the befell the Jewish nation in 70 AD when the Roman armies sacked the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the Jewish temple, razed the city to the ground, and expelled the Jews on pain of death from the land of Judea after a great and horrific slaughter. THIS is the "judgment of gehenna" in which the Jews were in danger, and it is THIS judgment they did not escape just as Jesus had warned.
Notice again the words of the prophets:
Jeremiah - "and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth"
Isaiah - “And they shall go forth, and look Upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: For their worm shall not die, Neither shall their fire be quenched; And they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”
And the words of Jesus:
"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into gehenna fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
It is a mistake, a tragic mistake, to take these words out the mouth of our Lord and Savior and apply them to a place and concept of eternal torment and misery. The judgments of which Jesus warned were severe. They came to pass just as Jesus and the prophets warned. They did not, however have anything to do with the pagan Greek "hell" of Christian theology. These are not conclusions drawn from assumption or inference, nor do they rely on what the Jews may have learned from pagan Greek philosophy - they are arrived at by believing the inspired words of Jesus and the prophets. |
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SECTION I (a) -- Verses Not Containing 'Hell' But Which Have Direct Bearing On Gehenna While not containing the word 'hell', the following verses are listed here because they bear directly on those listed above. Matthew 18:19 is listed because it appears in the context of those verses above, showing that Gehenna Fire is sometimes referred to as an 'eternal' (gk. aionion more on this below) fire. Therefore some verses listed above are 'eternal' (gk. aionion) by direct association. Matthew 25:41,46 is listed because it also mentions this 'eternal (gk. aionion) fire'. Additionally this 'eternal fire' is mentioned again in Jude 7 also listed below. The remaining verses are the Old Testament references, which contain the language Jesus was quoting within the context of his usage of gehenna and are essential to a proper understanding of their true intent. Jesus' hearers would have been familiar with such language and would not have drawn arbitrary conclusions about the meaning of his words as many individuals do today. Not only do those verses which contain gehenna fail to teach eternal conscious torment, the verses below which clarify them are fatal to such an interpretation. These verses should present a challenge to anyone who wishes to continue in their belief that 'hell' is eternal conscious torment. Most Bible students will carelessly miss the fact that there is an implicit contradiction in the verses above and below if we wish to maintain our belief in an eternal hell. Note the following from these passages: 1) The fire of hell' is an 'everlasting fire'. (Matt 25:41) 2) The fire of hell' is a fire that 'shall not be quenched' (Mark 9:47-48, etc) 3) The 'fire of hell' is where 'the worm does not die, and the fire shall not be quenched'. 4) Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth as an example of 'Eternal Fire'. (Jude 7) 5) The Jewish nation was warned of the 'damnation of hell'. (Matt 23:33) Then note the following: 1) Many of the Bible's 'unquenchable fires' are no longer burning. 2) The 'undying worms' and 'unquenchable fire' of which Jesus warned feeds only on corpses. (Isa 66:24) 3) Sodom and Gomorrah are promised a restoration. (Ezek 16:48-55), Luke 10:12 etc) 4) The Jewish nation is promised a restoration. (Rom 11:20-27) How will a sincere student of the Bible answer this conflict? The following are indisputable scriptural facts: 1) 'Unquenchable fires' offer no proof of 'hell' because those fires eventually burn out. 2) 'Undying worms' offer no proof of hell because they only feed on corpses. (Isa 66:24) 3) The 'damnation of hell' is the 'judgment of Gehenna' - the well known national (and earthly) curse of Jeremiah 19, and thus no proof of hell. This dilemma is resolved by two scriptural facts: 1) The fire, worms, and Gehenna judgments spoken of in these passages refer to earthly judgments, either upon the Jewish nation, or upon the wicked in the time of resurrection. They have no reference to some other-worldly hell which feeds upon human 'souls' after death. 2) The word in these passages which is translated as 'eternal' or 'forever' is the Greek word Aionion and does not mean 'endless time', but rather, 'indefinite time'. A careful study of this Greek word Aionion and how it is used throughout scripture proves conclusively that it has no connection with our popular conceptions of 'eternity'. Please the following article: Marvin Vincent on Aionion for a detailed analysis of how this word is used in the New Testament. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt 18:8 | Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. | No Punishment is 'Aionion' or, 'age lasting' | No | Appears within the context of Matt 18:9 shown above and listed here for clarity. This verse shows that 'Gehenna Fire' is often threatened as an 'eternal' (Gk. Aionion) or 'age lasting' fire; thus making those punishments associated with Gehenna (whatever they may be) 'age lasting' by implication in many verses in which Gehenna appears. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt 25:41,46 | Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. | No Punishment is 'Aionion' or, 'age lasting' |
No | This is considered by many to be THE verse proving eternal torment. In their minds 'everlasting punishment' is equal to 'eternal torment'. However, this punishment, whatever it may be, is not 'eternal', but rather 'age-lasting (see notes in header above.) The Jewish nation has undergone such a judgment for the past 20 centuries, and thus an example of what it means to undergo 'Gehenna Judgment' or 'Everlasting Punishment'. In either case, the 'everlasting punishment' here is in no case eternal torment. Please see: Marvin Vincent on Aionion There he states: "Kolasis aionios, rendered everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an aeon other then that in which Christ is speaking." Note also that the doctrine of the eternal torment of the wicked also relies on the doctrine of the soul's immortality. Even if the reader fully rejects the notion that this verse could be referring to an 'age-long' punishment, it still does not follow that this verse teaches the eternal torment of the wicked. Why wouldn't annihilation or eternal death also be an 'everlasting punishment'? Physical torment is read into passages such as this where it does not exist. Those passages which speak of physical torment will be covered in the next section. |
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| Isa 66:24 | And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh | No Punishment is 'Aionion' or, 'age lasting' |
No | How, in the name of all that's sacred, can this verse possibly teach eternal conscious torment in hell? The only way it can is by first assuming that it MUST. Even then, such an interpretation not only stretches credibility to its limits, but completely smashes it to bits.
If 'Carcass' or 'worm' can be interpreted to mean 'immortal soul burning in hell' then surely words have no meaning and we are hopeless to determine with any certainty the true meaning of ANY Biblical word or phrase. For the Biblical meaning of 'unquenchable fires' and 'undying worms' see below. |
This verse, along with Matthew 5:22 listed in the previous section, is the key to understanding the true meaning of
Gehenna and the way in which Jesus used that word. Isaiah 66:24 is quoted three times in Mark 9 in connection with
Gehenna.
However, instead of using Jesus' quotation of this passage to interpret Mark 9, many assign an interpretation to Mark 9 based on assumptions and pre-conceived ideas, then attempt to read such an interpretation back into Isaiah 66:24 where it clearly does not, and cannot fit. Such handling of scripture is a recipe for disaster.
The fire and the worms of Gehenna clearly feed on carcasses; literally dead bodies. Far from supporting the doctrine of eternal torment, this verse is fatal to it. |
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| Jer 7:20 | Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. | Verses Listed For Comparative Purposes Only |
What is an 'unquenchable fire'?
We are accustomed to answer that it is a fire that never, ever, EVER goes out, nor could it. We answer this way because of what we have been taught, not because this is what the Bible says, or how the Bible uses this phrase. The verses containing Gehenna listed above are always quoted to prove the teaching that 'hell' contains fires that will never, ever, EVER go out, but the language is taken from the verses listed to the left. Why are we never quoted these to explain the language Jesus was using? Let the BIBLE define what an 'unquenchable fire' is, let us not just assume it. These verses show that in each case the 'unquenchable fire' eventually did go out. Even in our English language, 'unquenchable' does not carry the meaning of something that will never cease. An unquenchable fire is not one that by necessity NEVER goes out. It is however one that CANNOT BE PUT OUT. For example, a firefighter may not be able to put out a fire, it is therefore unquenchable. Is does not however follow that the fire will NEVER go out. The fire will burn until it accomplishes its purpose or runs out of fuel to burn, man being powerless to stop it. An 'unquenchable desire to know the truth' is not a desire which of necessity which will NEVER cease. It is a desire which will continue relentlessly until it accomplishes its ultimate goal, nothing else being able to quell or satisfy it. This is the way in which this phase is used in the Bible. See the verses to the left. The reasoning which infers: 'since immortal souls cannot burn up, the fires of hell will never go out' is simply begging the question. There is nothing in the Bible which ever states that the fires of Gehenna burn immortal souls which can never be destroyed. Furthermore, there is not one verse in the entire Bible that teaches the immortality of the soul. On the contrary, Isaiah 66:24 tells us exactly what the fire does burn: And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched What about the worms that do not die? To say that an 'undying worm' is an immortal worm is to say what the Bible does not. Simply, like the fire, the work of the worms cannot be stopped, nor will they die until they accomplish the task of complete and utter destruction. These passage clearly delineate earthy judgments. |
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| Jer 17:27 | But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eze 20:47-48 | And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jude 7 | Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. | If an 'unquenchable fire' can eventually go out after it accomplishes its purposes, what of an 'eternal (Aionion) fire'? While this verse is sometimes quoted as proof for an eternal hell, a simple reading of the verse shows nothing of the kind. This verse is plainly talking about the CITIES of Sodom, Gomorrah, and those surrounding who suffered the vengeance of eternal (Aionion) fire. But we must be careful not to draw conclusions which the Bible does not say.
Notice carefully how an argument which attempts to make this mean that the inhabitants of these cities are burning eternally in hell simply destroys the force of Jude's argument. These cities are set forth as examples of the wrath of God on sin. But how are they set forth as an example?; by suffering the vengeance of eternal (Aionion) fire. But how would this be an example to anyone if this meant 'immortal souls burning in hell'. No one can point to anyone burring in hell as an example of God's wrath against sin. No one can SEE that anyone is burning in hell. Immortal souls in hell set forth no example. What can be seen and used as an example is that these cities were destroyed, and never rebuilt. The fire not only reduced these cities to ruin,
but the judgment of God also ensured that they could never recover under the vengeance of an eternal fire.
Scripturally speaking, an unquenchable fire is one that man cannot put out, but will burn until it accomplishes its goal or runs out of fuel. An eternal (Aionion) fire, or everlasting fire is one that is permanent in its effects as long as God decrees it to be so.
Please verses in Section VIII These are the meanings of these terms derived from the way the Bible itself uses these them, not an arbitrary interpretation of what they MUST mean Incidentally, the verse, nonetheless, speaks nothing of conscious torment. Please See Also: A Scriptural Example of Eternal Fire |
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SECTION I I -- Verses Which Speak of Physical Torment: Weeping and
Gnashing of Teeth The following seven verses containing the phrase 'weeping (or wailing) and gnashing of teeth' are almost universally applied to the doctrine of eternal conscious torment. Because 'hell' is assumed to be the place where this condition exists, these verses are universally applied to this doctrine based on that assumption alone with little regard for what these texts actually say. One obvious fact seems to have never occurred to the teachers of eternal torment: Namely that the dead do not wail or gnash their teeth! Nor is there anything in any of the passages we will examine that suggests that this condition is experienced by anyone other that living, breathing, men and women. These verses represent not only one condition that brings about 'weeping and gnashing of teeth', but three. By reason of assumption, all three conditions are applied to the doctrine of eternal torment, then quoted as proof that such a teaching exists in the scriptures. This is a classic case of circular reasoning. Of the most interest is the fact that NONE of these speak of 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' as an ETERNAL condition. This is of no small significance. Not only do those passages which do speak of an eternal (aionion) punishment (see above) fail to mention any torment, those that speak of torment in punishment fail to mention that such a punishment is eternal. The one who seeks to equate these verses with the doctrine of eternal conscious torment does so only on the basis of three assumptions, none of which can be determined from the texts themselves: 1) That these passages apply to all the wicked throughout eternity in contrast to a specific class of people. 2) That these verses describe a condition of mankind beyond this life 3) That such a condition extends throughout eternity. So we have three facts that MUST be reckoned with: 1) Those passage which speak of an ETERNAL (Aionion) punishment fail to mention any torment in such punishment. 2) Those passages which speak of torment fail to mention that the condition is eternal. 3) None of these verses mention 'hell' at all (Either Hades or Gehenna) and the phrase 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' is NEVER used to describe either. Clearly someone has clouded these issues in order to uphold much cherished beliefs. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt 13:40-42 | As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this age. 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; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
These verses are the most significant of this section because they speak of a 'furnace of fire' which brings about 'weeping and gnashing of teeth', thus equating them with 'hell' in the minds of many.
This reasoning, however, stands on the flimsy assumption that all references to fire must refer to 'hell'. This view also ignores the fact that Jesus is discussing events which are to happen specifically at the close of THIS AGE, and the punishments to befall those wicked who are alive at that time. These verses are not generalized descriptions of what 'hell' is like, but specific prophecies for the end of the age although they are almost never preached in this way. In the end of the age the angels will gather the wicked then living and cast them into 'a furnace of fire'. You can bet that when living, breathing men and women are cast into whatever punishment 'furnace of fire' signifies, there will indeed be 'weeping and gnashing of teeth'. There is however nothing to suggest that such a fire is 'hell', or that it continues eternally. The phrase 'weeping and gnashing' of teeth is NEVER used to describe Gehenna or hell generally. Please see our work "The Furnace of Fire and the Wrath of God" for a detailed study of these events. |
The exact fulfillment of these verses is given in the book of Revelation showing that the 'furnace of fire' is not 'hell', but the 'great winepress of the wrath of God'; much of which is signified as a fiery torment.
The judgments await the end of the current age. This winepress is representative of the seven last plagues God pours out upon the earth just prior to the close of the age. As Jesus himself said 'As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this age.' Compare Jesus words of these events to those described in Revelation 14-16. How is it that so many Christians miss the obvious application of this passage?
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| 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. | No | No | Compare this passage to that above. Mal 4:1 is a prophecy concerning the end of the JEWISH AGE. Note the description and warning of a fiery judgment. The fulfillment of this prophecy came to pass in 70 AD with the desolation of the Jewish nation and the destruction of their temple after a horrific slaughter of the Jewish people. Matthew 13:40-42 is describing events prophesied for the end of this current age. The Jewish people and their destruction are an example of the fiery judgment awaiting the end of this current age at our Lord's return. Still these verses have nothing to do with the doctrine of eternal torment. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt 13:50 | And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
|See Above and to the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt 8:12 | But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
To use these verses, and the condition 'outer darkness' to teach the doctrine of eternal conscious torment is to miss the entire point for which they were written. As in the two previous verses, these are speaking of a specific group of people, the Jewish nation and in particular its leaders who had rejected Jesus. The key to proper understanding lies in the context of Matthew 21-22: When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons... Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof... And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them... And Jesus answered and spake unto them (the Pharisees) again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come... But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. These verses were aimed directly at the Jewish national leaders, the Pharisees. By rejecting their Messiah., the Jewish nation was cast into 'outer darkness' for the past 20 centuries, and has endured untold persecution, weeping, and gnashing of teeth at the hands of gentile nations. The parable of the 'wedding garment' shows that the Jewish nation was powerless to stop this without submitting to the authority and righteousness of their Messiah. Their status as 'children of the kingdom' would not get them into the 'wedding', and they were thrust out. The Pharisees knew that Jesus was speaking of them. How is it that most modern evangelicals do not? We can praise God that the Jewish nation will be restored in the coming kingdom age; thus 'outer darkness' is not 'hell', nor is it a permanent condition. Then again, the Bible never said it was. Let the reader mark well this point; The Jewish nation is used time and again as an example of God's wrath towards wickedness. Those severe types of judgment, NOT HELL, is what is being described in these passages. |
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| Matt 22:13 | Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
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| Luke 13:28 | There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
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| Matt 24:51 | And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
This verse correlates with Matthew 13:42-50 shown above. The 'hypocrites' are literally 'counterfeits' and correspond with the 'tares' of Matthew 13. This is a warning towards an unprofitable servant in the end of the age who begins to beat and make gain of his fellow servants, reasoning that Jesus is delaying his return. Jesus warns that they will meet the same fate as the hypocrites (the tares) when he returns. This punishment refers to the same 'furnace of fire' described in Matthew 13 and detailed in Revelation 14-16. 'Cut asunder' refers to the most brutal of the Roman forms of scourging; a fitting symbol for the wrath of God that such a one will be made to endure. Even so, the verse in no way states that this punishment is incurred by any other than the living, nor does it teach that the named punishment is eternal. |
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| Matt 25:30 | And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
This verse, from the parable of the talents carries with it the same type of warning which Jesus made toward the Jewish national leaders. In this case, however, the warning is for anyone who would aspire to attain the kingdom which was first offered to the Jews, then afterward to 'a nation which would bring forth fruit meet for repentance'. Jesus warns that any man who fails to use the talents God has granted him will find themselves debased and under judgment (in 'outer darkness'). They will weep bitterly when confronted with the reality of the position from which they have fallen, and judged according to the amount of light they sinned against. This is shown by the parallel of this verse as given in Luke 12: 46-48 which contains the following information:
And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. For further explanation see Section III Again, nothing indicates this is an eternal condition. and no mention is made of 'hell'. For more information see also our chapter: The Day of Judgment |
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SECTION I I (a) -- Verses Which Speak of Physical Torment: Related to the above
The following verses expand upon and are related to those above. Other clarifying verses are listed so that we may compare scripture with scripture and arrive at a proper and Biblical conclusion.
Some of these passages are often cited as the greatest proof-texts for the
doctrine of eternal torment. We propose that these are some of the most misunderstood verses in all the Bible and require diligent study and a sensitivity to the symbolic context in which some of them occur. They
all fail to maintain the doctrine which they are set forth to prove. Our interpretation of these verses must not be guided by emotion or assumption but by a careful and consistent comparison of scripture with scripture. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 14:9-11 | And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. | No (See Next Two Verses and Notes) |
No Torment yes, Eternal no |
Does this passage offer irrefutable proof of the doctrine of eternal torment?
Many believe that it does, and tell us that this text cannot be made to teach otherwise
without twisting or violating the scriptures. Quite to the contrary, I believe
the opposite is true – It is those who would use this verse to promote the
doctrine of the eternal conscious torment of the wicked who have erred greatly. Obviously, this passage contains the terms ‘fire’, ‘brimstone’, ‘smoke’, ‘torment’, and ‘forever and ever’ – All words that have become closely associated with the teaching of eternal torment in the minds of those who hold this view. However, it is precisely the close association of these terms with the notion of eternal torment that blinds many to what is actually missing from the passage. In order for the passage to promote the doctrine of eternal torment, it must prove three things: 1) That the punishment of the wicked described can be made to apply to mankind in general, rather than a specific class of people only. 2) That the state of those tormented applies to conditions beyond this earthly realm and this life. 3) The passage teaches that such conditions must continue throughout eternity. I propose that it can be conclusively demonstrated that when properly examined, the passage exhibits none of these. In fact, it will be shown that these verses are highly misunderstood, and that a much sounder and obvious interpretation is in view. Due to the importance of the passage and the misunderstanding surrounding it we will comment at length, taking up these three points one at a time. 1) Can the punishment described in the passage be made to apply to mankind in general, or does it have reference only to a specific class of people? Note: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink etc." This passage is clearly not a generalized warning for all of mankind - It is issued at a specific time (after the sounding of the seventh trumpet) and is directed towards a specific class of people; namely, those who are worshiping (present tense) the beast and taking its mark. Therefore, the burden of proof lies with the teachers of eternal torment to show that this passage has equal application to all of unsaved humanity and not to the one class of people only. As this question hangs on the proper interpretation of the passage and the correct identification of the symbolism contained within it, we feel that the next two points will demonstrate that it cannot be used as a generalized description of ‘hell’, but does in fact warn only a punishment upon those threatened - Those who are found worshipping the Beast, or are found to have taken his mark. 2) Does the punishment and torment described in this passage extend beyond this earth, or this life? As the proper interpretation hangs upon this question it is extremely important that our answer be based upon a careful scriptural analysis, and not upon assumption. Most Christians assume that the torment by ‘fire and brimstone’ spoken of here is a reference to the ‘lake of fire and brimstone’ found in Revelation 19:20 and 20:10. But this is a serious error. The language of this verse is not taken from Revelation 19 and 20, but from the Book of Isaiah: And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, And the dust thereof into brimstone, And the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; The smoke thereof shall go up for ever: From generation to generation it shall lie waste; None shall pass through it for ever and ever. (Isaiah 34:8–10) Notice also Luke 17:28-30 shown to the left. Notice that in the day the Lord is revealed (not in an eternal hell), it rains FIRE AND BRIMSTONE from heaven upon the earth just as it did in the days of Lot. Both of these passages are prophecies of earthly judgments which are to be poured out at specific time. They are not generalized descriptions of ‘hell’. What most Christians have done here is they have removed the fulfillment of Revelation 14:9-11 from its immediate context and applied these words to the ‘lake of fire and brimstone’ which only first appears in Revelation 19. But notice in that passage that it is only the ‘beast’ and ‘false prophet’ who are cast into that lake – the rest of the wicked (obviously those who were worshipping the beast) are simply killed (Rev 19:20-21). Therefore, Christians must actually believe that the fulfillment of Revelation 14:9-11 does not occur until the wicked are cast into the lake of fire following the ‘Great White Throne Judgment’ (Rev 20:15). But that this is an error should be obvious if not for the fact that the teaching of eternal torment has blinded us into equating all references to ‘fire’ or ‘torment’ with a place called ‘hell’ – a word which appears nowhere within this passage. The exact fulfillment of this passage is not to be found in Revelation 20, but in the immediate context of the passage – the ‘Harvest’ of mankind which begins in Revelation 14:14 and extends through the coming of Christ in chapter 19. The harvest which is described in Revelation 14 in which the wicked are cast into 'the great winepress of the wrath of God' is simply a symbolic representation of what follows in Chapters 15-19; Namely, the seven 'bowl' judgments of God's wrath. When the first of these bowl judgments is poured out in Revelation 16:2 we read: "And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." Here we see the beginning of the exact fulfillment of those warnings given in Revelation 14:9-11. The warning is for a specific class of people, and the torment falls on that same class of people - Those worshipping the Beast, its image, or have taken its mark. Notice that every detail of the warning issued in Revelation 14:9-11 is fulfilled by the ‘bowl judgments’ described in Revelation 16-19:
The thought that so obvious a fulfillment could be missed by the majority of Christians boggles the mind but illustrates the blindness caused by the doctrine of eternal torment. Most Christians think that Revelation 14:9-11 is an obvious reference to hell. But what seems obvious to them is nothing more than a cruel illusion. Revelation 14:9-11 has nothing to do with hell, and its truly obvious fulfillment, as shown in this comparison, is right there in black and white, in the same language, and given within the immediate context! For sure, the passage warns of severe judgments which are to be poured out upon this earth - But the warnings and corresponding judgments are for a specific time and apply to a specific class of people. 3) Does Revelation 14:9-11 teach that the threatened judgment and torment continues throughout eternity? Two phrases in the text have led many to that conclusion. First, “The smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever”. On this point we note two things. First, ‘forever and ever’ does not mean ‘eternity’ as we have shown in the sections above and also in Section VIII below. Phrases such as this have reference to time, and literally mean 'long ages', not eternity. Second, and more importantly, this phrase is taken from Isaiah 34:10 (the destruction of Edom) and is repeated again in Revelation 19:3 (the destruction of Babylon the Great). Both of these have reference to earthly judgments – the smoke is rising ‘forever’ from lands and cities on this earth. Will those who use this phrase ‘the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever’ demand a strict literalism which reduces the text to an absurdity? Consider Revelation 18:21: "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." Then compare this with Revelation 19:1-3 "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore (Babylon), which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever." It simply does not follow that the figure of perpetually rising smoke signifies that something must be literally burning forever. This language is obviously symbolic of the magnitude of these judgments and the ruin and desolation which will ever stand as an example of God’s judgment against sin and disobedience. Second, “They have no rest day or night”. This is obviously true so long as these judgments last. But just how long do they last? Notice Revelation 15:1: “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.” If these seven last plagues complete the wrath of God against those worshiping the beast, then surely God's wrath cannot extend eternally beyond them. Clearly those on whom these judgments are poured have no rest day or night while these judgments last, but nothing in the text suggests that this is an eternal condition. We see then that Revelation 14:9-11, when properly examined and understand completely fails in regard to the doctrine of eternal torment. The specific fulfillment of this prophetic passage appears in its immediate context. Its language is taken from passages which speak only of earthly judgments. Given this, we have to ask: Who is it that has actually twisted and misrepresented this passage? Some have also tried to equate this passage with 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 shown to the left: “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” Neither of these passages refer to ‘hell’ nor are they necessarily parallel one to the other. Depending on how the clause ‘everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord’ is read, they may also appear to contradictory. Is the preposition ‘from’ to be read as ‘Everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord’, or ‘Everlasting destruction that comes from the presence of the Lord?’. If it is the former – ‘Everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord’ then clearly the passage is not a reference to same judgments threatened in Rev 14:9-11 since those judgments take place ‘IN the presence of the holy angels, and IN the presence of the Lamb’. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 would then be referring to judgments which follow the return of Jesus, not to those which preceded it such as those threatened in Revelation 14:9-11. If it is the latter – ‘Everlasting destruction that comes from the presence of the Lord?’, then 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 may be seen as a cross reference to Revelation 14:9-11 and would be a description of those same judgments threatened and detailed above. In neither case can either of these passages be used to bolster the doctrine of eternal torment. Please Notes from Marvin Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament where he comments extensively on 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and the phrase ‘Everlasting Destruction” |
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| Isa 34:8-10 | For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. | Verses Listed For Comparative Purposes Only Explaining the language of Revelation 14:9-11 |
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| Luke 17:28-30 | Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. | No | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 Thess 1:7-10 | And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. | No | No Torment yes, Eternal no |
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| Rev 19:20-21 | 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. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. |
No Aionion εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. "To the ages of the ages" (See Next Reference) |
No (See Notes, Next Three Verses, and Next Section) |
The first mention of the 'lake of fire' occurs in Revelation 19:20. That the 'lake of fire' is obviously symbolic is discussed below and in the next section. We have to ask what is meant by the casting of the beast, false prophet, and the Devil into this lake.
The first two occupants of the 'lake of fire' are the Beast and False prophet, but when we enquire as to their identity we generally get a different answer for each person we ask. The modern evangelical will answer along these lines: The Beast is the 'Antichrist', a powerful word leader who will arise in the end times and via one world government rule the entire earth. The False Prophet is a religious leader who with the Antichrist leads the world into one united false religion. While this is a rather novel (and I might add relatively new) teaching concerning the Beast and False Prophet, there are problems with this interpretation. If this be the case, then one would assume that these are humans. That would seem to follow without question. But the trouble is this: If these are indeed human, then they are the only two wicked humans who will escape the Great White Throne Judgment. These would go into the Lake of Fire BEFORE the judgment, in contrast to the rest of wicked mankind who go into the lake of fire FOLLOWING judgment. Not even Satan is thrown into the 'Lake of Fire' prior to this judgment. The Bible is clear that every child of Adam must appear for judgment to give account; how do these escape? I suppose we could say that their wickedness is such that it precludes judgment and they are sentenced to the lake of fire directly, but that would be a matter of pure guesswork.
I feel the obvious answer to this problem is in the interpretation placed upon the 'Beast' and 'False Prophet' by the protestant faiths for 350 years: that these are not men at all but mere symbols for satanic systems. The 'beast' represents those worldly political systems, and the 'False Prophet' those religious systems which deceived mankind. Someone might immediately object that it makes no sense to cast 'systems' into a lake of fire. How would one do that anyway? This ignores two basic facts: 1)The language is obviously symbolic. It is only those who need to take it literally in order to hang onto a much cherished belief who seem to not be able to see this, and 2) Revelation 20:14 states that 'death and hell' are also cast into the lake of fire. Therefore the question is unavoidable no matter what conclusions you draw concerning the Beast and False Prophet. How do you cast something abstract like death into a literal lake of fire? The answer lies in the obviously symbolic nature of the passage. Please see below and the next section for more detail. We are left only with the Devil of whom it is said along with the Beast and False prophet: 'shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever'. It matters little what conclusions we reach on the meaning of this phrase, because as the next two verses indicate there is nothing said of mankind being tormented forever and ever. This is clearly a designation which is applied only to the Devil, The Beast, and The False Prophet. It does not follow, as some suggest, that this verse 'proves' that whatever is cast into the lake of fire is thus tormented forever and ever. How would you or could you torment death? How could you torment the grave (Hades, see section IV)? In addition, we find elsewhere the following in clear and non-symbolic language: Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; Heb 2:14 Clearly the Devil is to be destroyed. So, if the Devil is to be destroyed, and the Beast and False Prophet, death, and hades are systems or abstract concepts, then how can they be 'tormented day and night forever and ever'? We have to look for what this might mean within the symbolical language in which it is written. |
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| 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. | No Aionion εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. "To the ages of the ages" |
No (Verse does not pertain to man. See Notes, Next Two Verses, and Next Section) |
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| Rev 20:13-15 | 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. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. | No | No (See Notes, Next Verse, and Next Section) |
We cannot say of the human race what the Bible says concerning the Devil ,the beast, and the false prophet:
and shall be tormented day and night for ever and eve., We should be
careful to not apply this language where the Bible is silent. To the contrary, inserted within the immediate context of this lake of fire in relation to mankind is: This is the second death. The meaning should be obvious to those who have not already made up their minds that the 'lake of fire' must be taken literally at all costs. The 'lake of fire' is an obvious symbol who's relation to mankind God has taken extra care to explain. For mankind, this lake of fire means a second death. If we were meant to take the lake of fire as literal then why insert this phrase which would serve only to confuse its meaning? The fact remains that these are the only two passages which speak of humans being cast into the 'lake of fire'. Neither one speaks and both call this condition 'the second death'. That 'second death' itself must be taken symbolically in order to avoid doing violence to the text is explained in the next section. |
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| 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. | Yes | No (See Next Section) |
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SECTION I I (b) -- Verses Which Clarify the Language of Revelation 20:14 and 21:8 - The Second Death
While these verses do not mention hell or torment, an understanding of them is imperative for the proper interpretation of Revelation 20:14 and 21:8. Here theologians have reversed the obvious symbolism in order to make the symbol a reality and the reality a symbol. Whereas the Bible says that the 'lake of fire' IS the second death, the symbol is reversed to mean 'the second death' IS the 'lake of fire'. These verses show the impossibility of doing that, and remaining faithful to the Bible's use of language. The lake of fire is described using two constructions, the first in Revelation 20:14 'This IS the second death', and the second in Revelation 21:8 'Which is (or, that is to say) the second death'. The first group of verses describes the way 'second death' was used earlier in the Book of Revelation. The second group shows the familiar way in which Revelation defines its own symbols. Unfortunately the same logic is never applied to 'the lake of fire'). The last group shows the scriptural use of the Greek phrase ho estin (that is ) which is uses in Revelation 21:8. The purpose of all these scripture citations is to show the absolute fallacy of taking an obvious symbol as something literal in its most strict sense. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clarifying 'Second Death' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 2:10-11 | Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. | Verses Listed For Comparative Purposes Only | The 'second death' is first mentioned in Revelation 2:11. While the Book of Revelation is one of deep symbolism, there is nothing in this passage which would lead one to believe that 'second death' was merely a symbol for a much greater reality. In fact, most who read Revelation have no problem understanding most of what they are reading until they hit the deep symbolism beginning in Chapter 4. After that the reader often gets bogged down in images of beasts, dragons, human-faced locusts, etc. The point is simply this, if 'second death' is merely a symbol, or a label for a much greater reality, then why does the reader have to wait another eighteen chapters for the symbol to be explained? How are we to know within the quite straightforward language of Revelation Chapter Two that 'second death' doesn't mean literally SECOND DEATH? What reason would we have for believing otherwise? Furthermore, when the phrase appears again in Revelation 20:6, it again appears in quite straightforward language with nothing indicating that it might be a symbol for something much greater. Now, look at Luke 20:35-36 shown to the left. The resurrection of the just means something very special; it means that those so resurrected cannot die again. Having been raised from the first death, these righteous who come forth are not subject to die a second time. However we know that not only will the righteous be raised, but all will be raised: "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 25:15 It is however this one special class who will be raised as such that they cannot die a second time, and Revelation 20:6 carries this exact thought. Those raised in the first resurrection are not subject to a second death. We have no reason to believe that the language is a riddle. We have no reason but to take it for exactly what it says. The 'second death' MEANS THE SECOND DEATH! He that overcomes WILL NOT BE RESURRECTED TO A DYING CONDITION OR BE SUBJECT TO DEATH A SECOND TIME. Shortly after, in Revelation 20:14 we are met with a rather enigmatic phrase: ' And death and hell (gk. Hades - See Section IV) were cast into the lake of fire.' The reader would have encountered this 'lake of fire' twice before this in Rev 19:20 and 20:10 where the Beast, False Prophet, and the Devil were cast into it. However, the phrase at Revelation 20:14 seems problematic: How do you cast death and Hades into a lake of fire? Death and Hades are not material things, personages, or humans. How do you cast these into a lake of fire? I have yet to have one believer in eternal torment who can answer the question in any kind of meaningful way. But the verse should not present a problem because the key to its interpretation is inserted immediately following: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. The lake of fire is merely a symbol for a concept the Bible student would already be familiar with, the second death. It is a fitting symbol for ultimate destruction in that anything submerged in a lake of fire is ensured utter and complete destruction. Men are subject to die once. All men will get a resurrection based on Jesus' ransom sacrifice on our behalf. But those who die a second time go into the symbolic lake of fire from which no one will be recovered, because having spurned their Savior, there is no greater ransom that can be paid on their behalf. Death and Hades also going into this lake of fire indicates that they will cease to be eternally. As Paul wrote: The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1Cor 15:26 Therefore the lake of fire stands as a symbol of final, total, irrecoverable destruction. To mankind this means a second death. Nothing could be clearer. For absolute proof that the 'lake of fire' is symbolic, please see the next two groups of verses. |
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| Rev 20:6 | Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Luke 20:35-36 | But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clarifying Revelation 20:14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 1:20 | The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. | Verses Listed For Comparative Purposes Only
The Lake of Fire (symbol) IS THE SECOND DEATH (reality) |
How often are we told that we must let the Bible interpret its own symbols. The verses in this group show how the Book of Revelation does just that. Revelation 20:14 is a verse like those in this section, however in this one case only modern theology reverses this symbol making the symbol the reality and the reality into a symbol. This is done for one reason only: To hold onto the doctrine of eternal conscious torment which is nowhere taught in the Bible but must be maintained by whatever means possible. Imagine the absurdity of reversing the order of other symbols which are described in this way: The seven Spirits of God ARE seven lamps of fire The seven mountain ARE seven heads The ten kings ARE ten horns The people and multitudes ARE waters The righteousness of the saints IS fine linen And then try to maintain these things in the strictest most literal way possible. No one would accept any such interpretation as anything but foolishness. This is however exactly what is done at Revelation 20:14. We read that the lake of fire IS the second death. 'Second Death' is what explains the symbolical 'lake of fire'. How is this not clear to those who read these verses? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 4:5 | And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 5:8 | Having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 16:13-14 | And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 17:9 | The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 17:12 | And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 17:15 | The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rev 19:8 | And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clarifying Revelation 21:8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt 27:33 | And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull | Verses Listed For Comparative Purposes Only The Lake of Fire, that is to say, the Second Death |
The reader here might not realize what 'Golgotha' means, therefore the obscure is clarified by the translation, 'the place of the skull' | The latter half of Revelation 21:8 exists in the Bible for a reason: to keep men and women from reaching the wrong conclusion regarding a very important symbol. As we have seen in the previous group, Revelation explains its symbols in a very distinct way: symbol followed by interpretation or explanation. An interpretation which makes the 'lake of fire' literal while making 'the second death' figurative must reverse this logic.
In this group, which clarifies Revelation 21:8, the construction is even stronger by using the Greek phrase ho estin, or in English 'that is ..' A study of the way this phrase is used in the New Testament makes it clear that popular notions about the lake of fire are simply incorrect. The Bible did not say, as we would expect if the doctrine of eternal torment was true, 'the lake of fire, which is called the second death.' On the contrary it uses a construction whereby the first clause is ambiguous and is clarified by the second clause: 'that lake of fire, that is to say, the second death'. We are clearly to take the second clause in a literal, explanatory way, not the reverse. Please study the examples to the left to see for yourself how the New Testament uses this terminology. If we were indeed supposed to take this in the reverse order from what the construction demands, as we are told by popular theology, then we can once again be sure that words and phrases have no meaning and can be twisted to whatever means best suit us. The 'Lake of Fire' IS 'The Second Death', not the reverse |
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| Mark 7:11 | If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. | The reader would not know what 'Corban' is, therefore this is clarified by the second clause, 'a gift' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark 7:34 | And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. | What is 'Ephphatha'? Once again 'ho estin' is use as the connective between the first obscure phase and the one that clarifies it, 'Be opened' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark 15:42 | And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, | The reader might not know what the 'preparation' was, therefore, again, this is clarified in the second clause, the preparation is the day before the Sabbath | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Col 1:24 |
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is (that is to say) the church: |
This verse is the strongest of the group. Without the explanatory second clause the reader might not know how Paul's sufferings benefited Christ's LITERAL body. How could they?
So, Paul used to the second clause connected by 'which is' to clarify and explain the first. The church is not literally Christ's body. Indeed Jesus had a glorious spirit body upon His resurrection, but the Church is not literally His body. It is His body only in a figurative and symbolical sense. 'for his body's sake' (not literally, but figuratively, that is to say) 'the church'. Hence: body = figurative, symbolic church = explanatory, reality In the same way: 'the lake of fire' (not literally but figuratively, that is to say) 'the second death'. Hence: lake of fire=figurative, symbolic second death=explanatory, reality |
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SECTION III -- Verses Cited To Teach Degrees of Punishment in Hell
The following ten verses are used to teach the doctrine of 'Degrees of Punishment in 'Hell'. With the exception of Matthew 11:23-24, in which the Greek word Hades has been rendered 'hell', 'hell' appears nowhere in the context of any of these. Hades should never have been rendered 'hell' and will be discussed in section IV. Why, if all these passages teach degrees of punishment in hell, do none of these say 'in hell'? |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt 10:14-15 | And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. | No | No Torment yes, eternal no |
It is amazing how our assumptions can trick us into reading something into a passage of scripture that simply isn't there. We have been taught that these passages teach degrees of punishment in hell. The problem is, that while these passage DO teach degrees of punishment, none of them say 'in hell'. Nor do they imply that these punishments take place 'in hell' because they tell us in clear and unambiguous language the time period in which they do take place: In the day of judgment. If the punishments to be meted out described in these verses take place IN the day of judgment, then it is clear that they do not speak at all of any punishment following the judgment. It is not the fault of the Bible that mankind has developed a faulty view of the duration, nature, and purpose of God's judgment. Suffice it to say that these verses do not mention hell (with the exception of Hades in Matthew 11:23, see Section IV) and as such have nothing to do with the doctrine of eternal conscious torment. There will be punishment and retribution for sin., but as these verses show, the time and place for that punishment is not hell for all eternity, but in the day of judgment following the resurrection. The day of judgment is one of the central themes of the Bible, and there are literally dozens of passage that detail this judgment. See also our article: In The Day of Judgment: Does The Bible Teach Degrees of Punishment in Hell? |
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| Matt 11:21-22 | Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. | No | No Torment yes, eternal no |
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| Matt 11:23-24 | And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. | No | No Torment yes, eternal no |
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| Mark 6:11 | And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. | No | No Torment yes, eternal no |
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| Luke 10:10-12 | But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. | No | No Torment yes, eternal no |
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| Luke 10:13-14 | Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. | No | No Torment yes, eternal no |
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| Luke 12:46-48 | The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. | No | No Torment yes, eternal no |
The passage speaks of some being beaten with "many stripes", and some being beaten with "few stripes", so there is clearly an indication of degree of punishment. But where does such punishment take place? In hell? Does the passage anywhere state that this takes place in hell? Can those who teach that this is the meaning of the passage prove it? In this passage, if Jesus had meant us to understand "degrees of punishment in hell" then he certainly has used obscure language to express that idea. Do the terms "few" and "many" have any real meaning if hell is torment in flames for all eternity without end? Why use such obscure language if this is what was meant? The passages does not say 'lighter stripes' and 'harder stripes', it says 'few', and 'many', which are both finite and thus have nothing to do with eternal torment in hell. This passage is a parallel to Matthew 25:30 treated in Section II. Please see notes in that section. |
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| Matt 23:14 | Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. | No Uncertain from text |
No Torment yes, eternal no |
These three passages are parallels one to another and each carry the same thought. The more light one claims to have had, or the more privileged one esteems themselves before men, the greater their judgment will be. These comments were directed toward the Pharisees who felt they above all men were favored in God's sight. The Greek word for 'damnation' here is 'krima'', and does not carry the exact sense in which it has been rendered in the King James Bible. The word represents a judicial sentence, as opposed to the Greek word krisis for the process of judgment. The verse has nothing to do with punishment in hell, but carries the same thought as Luke 12:46 shown above: those that knew God's will and did not do it, in the judgment will be beaten with many stripes. Those who did not know God's will will be beaten with few stripes. I remind the reader once more that the only 'hell' in these verses exists in the imagination of the reader who has been conditioned to see this unscriptural doctrine where there is none. |
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| Mark 12:40 | Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. | No Uncertain from text |
No Torment yes, eternal no |
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| Luke 20:47 | Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. | No Uncertain from text |
No Torment yes, eternal no |
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SECTION IV -- Verses in Which 'Hell' Has Been Rendered From
Hades The Greek word Hades appears eleven times in the Greek text of the Bible. With the exception of 1 Cor 15:55, it has been uniformly rendered 'Hell' by the translators of the King James Bible. It is important to note that the majority of Bible scholars admit that 'Hell' is an improper translation and Hades should have never been rendered as such. Newer Bible versions either transliterate the word, or render it as 'grave'. Being the exact equivalent of the Hebrew Sheol, the word represents the death state. Hades is to be emptied of its occupants prior to the judgment (Rev 20:13-14). Therefore by definition, being only a temporary condition, no matter what conclusions we draw, these texts have no bearing whatsoever on the doctrine of eternal torment. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes |
| 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 | No | No | Here we see clearly that Hades is to be emptied of its occupants and done away with. It is therefore a temporary condition. Every man is guaranteed a resurrection from Hades; the death state. Hades is to be abolished, symbolized by its being cast into the lake of fire. As the apostle Paul stated: The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Cor 15:26 | |
| Rev 6:8 | And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with 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. | No | No | Death and Hell = Death and the grave | |
| 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 | No | No | That is, the keys of death and the grave, which Jesus conquered by resurrection and thus guaranteed a resurrection for all. | |
| 1 Cor 15:55 | O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? | No | No | Here Hades has been rendered properly as it should have been elsewhere. It is simply the grave, or the 'death state'. | |
| Acts 2:27 | Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. | No | No | Please see our chapter A Weekend in Hell or in the Tomb for more information. Jesus' soul was his very being. God promised not to leave Jesus in the grave, or in the state of death. This verse has nothing to do with the doctrine of eternal torment, nor does it teach an intermediate state for 'souls' (Greek psyche, life) between death and the resurrection. | |
| Acts 2:31 | He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption | No | No | ||
| Matt 16:16 | And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. | No | No | That is, the Church which Jesus built could not be brought down to destruction, ruin, and a state of non-existence. | |
| Matt 11:23 | And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. | No | No | Was the city of Capernaum brought down literally to a place of fiery torment? No Capernaum was overthrown and destroyed. The city lays in ruins to this day. It was brought down to ruin, death and destruction. | |
| Luke 10:15 | And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. | No | No | ||
| Luke 16:19-31 | There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. | No | No | Concerning this passage, the eminent theologian E. W. Bullinger wrote:
'In dealing with this scripture, and the subject of the so-called "intermediate state", it is important that we should confine ourselves to the Word of God, and not go to tradition. Yet, when nine out of ten believe what they have learnt from tradition, we have a thankless task, so far as pleasing men is concerned' I am most aware that almost all advocates of eternal torment will never be convinced that this passage is a parable. The truth is that they so desperately NEED this passage in order to maintain their doctrine. It is sad that so many cling to this passage to teach literal torment in hell when making the passage literal contradicts so much else of what they hold to be true. Is being poor a guarantee of salvation? Does being rich and having nice clothes damn anyone to hell? Lightfoot, in his commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud wrote concerning this passage: "Whoever believes this not to be a parable, but a true story, let him also believe those little friars whose trade it is to shew the monuments at Jerusalem to pilgrims, and point exactly to the place where the house of the 'rich glutton' stood. Most accurate keepers of antiquity indeed! who after so many hundreds of years, such overthrows of Jerusalem, such devastations and changes, can rake out of the rubbish the place of so private a house, and such a one too as never had any being, but merely in parable. And that is was a parable, not only the consent of all expositors may assure us, but the thing itself speaks it. The main scope and design of it seems this, to hint the destruction of the unbelieving Jews, who though they had Moses and the Prophets, did not believe them, nay, would not believe , though one ( even Jesus) arose from the dead. For that conclusion of the parable abundantly evidenceth what it aimed at: "If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." The teaching here is not that of Jesus, but that of the Pharisees in which he used their own false doctrine to 'condemn them out their own mouths'. We have commented on this passage extensively elsewhere. For more information please see our extended discussion in The Rich Man and Lazarus Bullinger also writes concerning this passage: "It will be asked, is it possible that our Lord would give utterance to such words without giving some warning to us as to the way in which He used them? Well, the answer is such that, warning has been given in the uniform and unanimous teaching of Scripture. His own words: "they have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them," addressed to the Pharisees through the rich man may be taken as addressed to us also. We have (as they had) the evidence of the Old Testament (in "Moses and the Prophets"), and we have also the evidence of the New Testament, which accords with the Old. If we "hear them", it would be impossible for us to suppose, for a moment, that Christ could be teaching, here, that which is the very opposite to that of the whole Word of God." Once again it must be noted that the passage speaks only of Hades which is to be emptied of its occupants and done away with prior to the judgment. Therefore, no matter what conclusions are drawn from this passage, they ultimately have no bearing upon the doctrine of eternal torment. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? |
Notes | Expanded Notes |
| Dan 12:2 | And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. | Yes | No | Although this verse says nothing of torment, some still try to read this teaching into the words 'shame and everlasting contempt'. The Hebrew words rendered 'shame and contempt', mean literally 'reproach' and 'abhorring' respectively. These words are representative of how
others will consider the wicked, not of how they themselves will feel for all eternity. In the resurrection, when the sins and judgment of these are laid bare for all to see, they will ever be looked upon with a sense of reproach, abhorring, and indignity. Still, the verse says nothing of eternal torment. |
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| John 5:28-29 | Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. | No | No | This verse carries with it the same basic thought of that above, with one difference. The word here rendered as 'damnation' (Greek krisis) has been rendered 43 times as 'judgment' elsewhere. 'Damnation' is hardly a fair translation of this word. 'Judgment' represents the whole judicial process as well as the sentence, not merely condemnation. In the resurrection, only a special class come forth in the first resurrection, the rest come up into a judgment. It is left for us to decide from other scripture what this judgment entails. The verse does not speak a word of any pain or torment for these beyond the judgment. |
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| 2 Pet 2:9-12 | The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption | No | No | The advocates of eternal torment see proof of this doctrine in the words 'reserve under punishment for the day of judgment'. They believe this means that when the wicked die, they are 'reserved under punishment' in hell. Even allowing that such an exposition is correct (which we do not) still this passage would not say anything of the fate of these
beyond the judgment, and thus once again has no bearing on the doctrine of eternal torment. The obvious meaning of the passage however is completely overlooked. God knows how to deliver the godly (those living) from temptation, and reserve the wicked (those living, notice 'especially those who walk according to the flesh etc') under punishment even before the judgment. This is basically saying that the wicked will reap what they sow. It has nothing to do with an 'intermediate state' between death and the judgment. The context plainly declares what the fate of these is to be: They are to be 'destroyed' and 'utterly perish in their own corruption'. |
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| 2 Pet 2:4 | For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment | No | No | This verse does not mention mankind at all, but rather fallen angels. The word rendered here as 'hell' is Tartarus and is the only time the word appears in the New Testament. The word is never applied to mankind. Whatever Tartarus is, it is for fallen angels. Some take this passage to refer to some literal prison, others to fallen condition these angels are currently in. Either way, the passage has no relevance to the doctrine of eternal torment for mankind. |
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| Isa 33:14 | The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? | Yes | No | Those who would offer in this verse as 'proof' for the doctrine of eternal torment surely stretch the limits of credibility. Obviously they have never heard of a rhetorical question. The question being 'who can dwell with everlasting burnings?', the answer implied is obviously NO ONE. However, if eternal torment be true, then countless billions will indeed dwell with everlasting burnings; the opposite of what this passage teaches. Notice also that the fire is a 'devouring fire'. It burns up the wicked. Please see also Section VII for more information. |
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| Scholars are in almost unanimous agreement that the Hebrew Sheol should never have been rendered 'hell'. A simple reading of these passages will show that none of them denote a condition of eternal torment. Thirty-two times Sheol has been rendered 'hell', twenty-nine times 'grave' and three times 'pit'. Sheol represents simply the grave, or the death state and is a direct equivalent to Greek Hades listed in section IV. As such, these also represent a temporary condition. Death and the grave (Hades, Sheol) are to be emptied and done away with, thus these verses have no relevance to the doctrine of Eternal Torment. Because this chart is mainly designed to deal with New Testament passages and only those Old Testament passages which have direct bearing upon them, we will not list these verses individually here. They have each been covered elsewhere in detail in our work Man Became a Living Soul - Chapter 7 Hellfire and damnation, where we examine every place the Old Testament word Sheol is rendered 'hell'. |
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SECTION VII --
Other Verses Which Contain Clear Warnings
to the Wicked - No Mention of Hell or Torment These verses are never usually brought forth to teach the doctrine of eternal torment although they speak in plain and clear language concerning the wicked. Even though NONE of the above verses succeed in proving the doctrine of eternal torment, these clear passages are bent to mean what they so clearly DO NOT say in order to maintain that teaching. The words 'death', 'destroy' and 'perish' have been redefined in order to make them mean 'torment eternally in hell'. These verses are clear and speak for themselves; they need no explanation. The reader is confronted with a very important decision. When we are confronted by a doctrine which can only be maintained based upon assumptions, twisted interpretations, and traditions, and then contradicted in the clearest terms possible such as in the verses listed below, what are we to do? Is it wise to read clear passages in such a way as to make them bend to a doctrine which is nowhere taught in scripture? These passages speak clearly: The wicked are to be consumed, die, perish, and be utterly destroyed. Whether or not such destruction is 'eternal' is a question that will be taken up in Section VIII. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes |
| Gen 2:17 | But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. | No | No |
This is the original warning to our first parents of the penalty for sin and
disobedience. It is inconceivable to think that this warning and the
description of the penalty incurred, given directly from the mouth of God, could
have been so obscure given the doctrine of eternal torment in hell. I ask the teachers of eternal torment: Where in these texts is there any hint that the punishment inflicted upon Adam and Eve, or their fallen posterity consisted of torment in fire for all eternity? 'Ye shall surely die' 'For you are dust, and to dust you shall return' There is nothing obscure about these texts. It is a serious error to read a doctrine of eternal torment back into this verses where no such thing in mentioned or even implied. |
|
| Gen 3:17-19 | And to Adam he said, “Because you
have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I
commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it
shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the
sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out
of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. |
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| Obad 16 | For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. | No | No | The Old Testament teaching concerning the fate of the wicked is clear, and emphatic. The wicked are to be consumed and be 'as though they had not been.' Compare the language in these passages to those above which supposedly 'prove' the doctrine of eternal torment. Could God have used any clearer language to tell us that the wicked are to be destroyed? Some attempt to teach that 'destroy' does not mean 'annihilate'. They say for example that just because something is destroyed does not mean it ceases to have any being. This argument is however silly, and an attempt to twist the clear words of scripture at any cost. When the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD and destroyed the temple, although there were indeed ruins left, was the temple still a temple? If you destroy a glass bottle by melting it back into molten glass, is it still a bottle? Man is a living soul: A body fashioned from the dust of the earth, combined with the breath of life which comes from God (Gen 2:7). Man has his existence only by the combination of these two elements, and man is destroyed by the separation of these two elements. The body is consumed and returns to the natural elements it was fashioned from, the breath of life returns to God (Eccl 12:7), and the man (the combination of the two) is destroyed. He is NOWHERE. He ceases to be as it was before he was born. Please see also our chapter What is Man. |
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| Ps 37:9 | For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth | No | No | ||
| Ps 37:10 | For a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be | No | No | ||
| Ps 37:20 | But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away | No | No | ||
| Ps 37:35,36 | I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found | No | No | ||
| Ps 104:35 | Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more | No | No | ||
| Ps 59:13 | Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be | No | No | ||
| Ps 145:20 | The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy | No | No | ||
| Ps 21:8-9 | Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them | No | No | ||
| Ps 92:7 | When the wicked spring as the grass, and when the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed forever | Yes | No | Like the Hebrew word 'Olam', the words here rendered 'forver' (adei ad), carry the sense of perpetual time, and not always eternity. These words should be taken in the sense of 'until', and should not be confused with our modern notions of 'eternal'. Please see notes on Isa 32:14-15 in the next section. | |
| Isa 1:28 | And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed | No | No | ||
| Isa 41:11-12 | Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be consumed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that way against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought | No | No | ||
| 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 as stubble; and the day cometh that shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch | No | No | ||
| Prov 12:7 | The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand | No | No | ||
| Job 20:4-9 | Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed upon the earth, that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment? Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds, he will perish forever like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?' He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night. The eye which saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him | No | No | ||
| 2 Cor 1:9-10 | But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; | No | No | In every case, Paul makes clear the penalty for sin. Why does he never mention hell? The wages of sin is not hell, but death, the end of sin is death, and sin reigns unto death. If the price for sin was eternal torment in hell then why use language that would clearly confuse the issue? |
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| Rom 8:6 | For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. | No | No | ||
| Rom 6:23 | For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. | No | No | ||
| Rom 6:21 | What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death | No | No | ||
| Rom 5:21 | That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. | No | No | ||
| Rom 1:32 | Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. | No | No | 'Not so' says the advocate of eternal torment: ' Those who do such things are worthy of 'hell'' not death as Paul so clearly says. | |
| 2 Pet 3:9 | The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. | No | No | In each case, 'perish' must be read as 'torment eternally in hell' in order to maintain the traditional doctrine of eternal torment. | |
| 2 Cor 2:15 | For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: | No | No | ||
| John 3:16 | For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. | No | No | ||
| Luke 13:3 | I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. | No | No | ||
| 1 Thes 5:3 | For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. | No | No | ||
| 2 Pet 2:12 | But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; | No | No | Again these verses are clear and require no explanation. The end of the wicked is to be their destruction. If 'eternal torment' was what was meant, then why use language that would clearly confuse the reader? In every case in this section the advocate of eternal torment is forced to read the language in a way that goes contrary to its natural and plain meaning. | |
| 1 Cor 15:26 | The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. | No | No | ||
| Acts 3:23 | And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people | No | No | ||
| Luke 17:29-30 | But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. | No | No | ||
| Rev 11:18 | And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. | No | No | ||
| James 4:12 | There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? | No | No | ||
| Heb 2:14 | Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; | No | No | ||
| 2 Thes 2:8 | And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming | No | No | ||
| 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. | No | No | ||
| 2 Pet 2:1 | But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. | No | No | ||
| 2 Thes 1:9 | Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power | Yes | No |
The Greek word here translated 'everlasting' (Aionion) once again deals
with perpetual time, and not eternity. Until the Christian believer grasps
this simple fact, much of the Bible will remain a riddle of contradictions.
Please see: Marvin Vincent on Aioion Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. 2 Thess 1:9 |
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| Phil 3:19 | Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. | No | No | ||
| Rom 9:22 | What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction | No | No | ||
| Matt 7:13 | Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat | No | No | ||
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Section VIII --
Verses Implying the
Final Restoration of All Humankind or Hope for the Lost Beyond the Grave I include this section with great anxiety because I know I will be misunderstood. There are few Biblical subjects that seem to arouse so much passion and anger as that of the final restoration of ALL of mankind. Before exploring these passages I need to make a few things clear: 1) The judgments of God are severe, the Biblical warnings are very real, and the wicked and unbelieving will not go unpunished. This is the clear teaching of scripture and anyone who ignores its warnings does so at their own peril. There is no question on this subject. GOD NEVER WARNS WHERE THERE IS NO DANGER. I do not believe, nor have I ever taught or suggested that there is no punishment for sin in this life, or in future ages when all will be made to give an account to God. Wickedness and unbelief will not go unpunished. The questions we are exploring in this section have regard to the final destiny of mankind following the judgment of the ages to come (the ages of the ages), and not to the question of punishment in general. 2) No one, and I mean NO ONE, will ever be saved apart from Christ. There is no other name given by which we must be saved. No one comes to the Father but through Christ. This is the clear and united testimony of scripture. The questions we are proposing deal with whether or not the opportunity for salvation is limited to this current age. 3) This question must be settled by what the scriptures say, and not by any appeal to emotion. I know that the question at hand can be an emotionally loaded one because it strikes at the very heart of what many consider to be fair and just. Emotional arguments can be brought forth for either side of the debate. On the one hand we will find those who think it unfair that God may torment anyone for all eternity. On the other hand, many will find it unfair that in the end God may restore everyone. We simply must not let this question be ruled by a sense of what we find fair or just. My only concern is what the scriptures have to say on this subject. 4) I reject the notion that the belief in the final restoration of mankind removes any deterrent to sin. First, we are compelled to believe the scriptures without regard to how some might misunderstand or misapply them. Any scriptural doctrine can be abused, but our concern is only with whether or not the teaching is scriptural. Second, if the biblical warnings as they stand in scripture are no deterrent to sin and unbelief, then magnifying those warnings to extend to torture for all eternity will avail nothing. Third, the doctrine of eternal torment has itself been used as an excuse for sin and unbelief. Fourth, if your own faithfulness to God is based only in your fear of torment, then I would ask you to seriously examine your own heart and motivation. 5) The teaching that all will eventually be reconciled to God is not a new teaching. It is not new to me, nor is it new to the Christian church. A great many early church fathers including: Bardaisan, Clement, Origin, Didymus, St. Anthony, St. Pamphilus Martyr, Methodius, St. Macrina, St. Gregory of Nyssa (and probably the two other Cappadocians), St. Evagrius Ponticus, Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, St. John of Jerusalem, Rufinus, St. Jerome, Cassian, St. Issac of Nineveh, St. John of Dalyatha, Ps. Dionysius the Areopagite, and many others, all believed that the final restoration of mankind was taught in the scriptures. It was not until the time of Augustine that the teaching was condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church. As for me, I've struggled with this teaching almost since the time I became a Christian. Some of the passages we will examine are not easily reconciled and appear to create biblical contradictions given a doctrine of eternal torment, or eternal annihilation for that matter. The passages below deserve serious consideration by all who love the Lord and who love truth. They must be reconciled with the whole testimony of scripture and should not be dismissed by the waive of a theological wand. Before exploring these passages it is of the utmost importance that the reader understand the following: 1) The concept that man possesses an 'immortal soul' is nowhere to be found in scripture. Much of the material on this site has been written to combat this erroneous belief, and belief in the inherent immortality of mankind is the foundation of nearly every doctrinal error. The scriptures are clear that mankind is mortal. 2) Because mankind is fully mortal, their only hope lies in the resurrection from the dead. This resurrection for all was guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus. Whether a resurrection to life or to judgment, mankind remains in a state of dying or actual death without it. 3) There is no teaching of eternal torment to be found in scripture. I feel that this has been demonstrated conclusively in the sections above. While there most certainly is a doctrine of judgment and punishment for sin in the ages to come, there is no concept of a place where the wicked will suffer eternally to be found within the pages of the Bible. 4) The concepts of 'Eternity' and 'Eternal' have been highly misunderstood in regard to how they appear in scripture. It can be conclusively demonstrated that the words of scripture as they appear in their original languages do not carry with them any thought of 'endless' time, or a 'forever' beyond time. These words are used to express the long ages to follow this current age - the Ages of the Ages - in which Christ will reign and judge all mankind. 5) Therefore, the questions we are dealing with in the section have reference only to the final outcome and destiny of mankind BEYOND the ages to come. When considering the passage below we must be painfully honest. Christians claim to believe the Bible, but they are very adept at explaining away certain passages which appear to conflict with their long-cherished beliefs. It is my contention that when honestly examined, some of these passages are fatal to the belief systems of most evangelical and fundamentalist Christians regardless of how one may choose to interpret them. One way or another, we must find a way to reconcile EVERYTHING the Bible has to say about the final state of mankind. |
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| Reference | Verse | Denotes Eternal? |
Denotes Eternal Conscious Torment? | Notes | Expanded Notes |
| TRANSLATION ISSUES - ETERNAL, EVERLASTING, FOR EVER, ETC. | |||||
| Isa 32:13-16 | Upon the land of my people shall come up
thorns and briers; Yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: Because
the palaces shall be forsaken; The multitude of the city shall be left; The
forts and towers shall be for dens for ever (Heb. olam), A joy of wild
asses, a pasture of flocks; Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, And the wilderness be a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness remain in the fruitful field. |
No | No | The
concept contained within this Old Testament passage is so foreign to the average
Bible student that they are prone to be entirely confused by what they have
read, or miss the implication entirely. Here we have what seems to be an
utter contradiction in the space of four verses. In verses 13-14 God is
warning of a judgment upon the Jewish people. Notice in verse 14 how
long this judgment is to last. It is to last 'FOR EVER (Heb. olam)'. However, in verse 15 we learn that the judgment only lasts UNTIL 'the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and thee wilderness be a fruitful field, etc'. The average Bible student will never be able to resolve apparent contradictions such as this until they grasp the fact that the Greek and Hebrew words that have been rendered in our Bibles as 'eternal', 'everlasting', 'for ever', etc DO NOT MEAN ENDLESS TIME, but rather indefinite time. It is a time period, an age, in which the horizon is not in view that these words represent. In the case before us, the threatened judgment upon the Jewish nation - a judgment that was to last for ever - lasts only until God pours out His spirit to restore them - thus 'for ever' in this context cannot mean eternity. While most commentators are forced to admit this on a verse such as this, we have to wonder - why then do they insist on such strictly literal interpretations of these words elsewhere, particularly when dealing with the ultimate fate of the unsaved? |
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| Rom 16:25 | Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began (Gk. Aionion) | No | No | The
phrase here, 'since the world began' has been rendered from the Greek words
Chronos Aionios. It is the Greek word Aionios and it's other
forms (Aion, Aionion, etc) which has been almost uniformly
translated as 'everlasting', 'eternal', 'for ever and ever' etc. in our English
Bibles. Like the Hebrew word olam, this word carries with it the thought
of perpetual time, an age, or ages, but not eternity, or a 'for ever' beyond
time. It is clear in this passage Aionion cannot mean 'eternal' or 'eternity'. The mystery of Christ was not kept hidden for eternity, but for long ages. Nearly every modern translation acknowledges this: NIV 'For long ages past', NASB 'For long ages past', ESV 'For long ages', HCSB 'For long ages', RSV 'For long ages'. So I have a question for the reader. Since these translators agree that the Greek word Aionion does not always carry the sense of 'everlasting', how sure are you that they have properly translated this word in connection with the punishment of the unsaved for all eternity? |
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| Rev 11:15 | And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. | No | No |
Once again, there is something hidden within the two passages listed to the left
that is so foreign to most Christians that it is easily missed. Once again
our Bible translations and our faulty conceptions of 'eternity' have created a
contradiction. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus does not reign 'for ever and ever', and this should be clear by comparing these two passages. Jesus reigns UNTIL he has accomplished the work which God gave him to do; namely to put all enemies under his feet and to subject all things to God, after which Jesus himself subjects himself to God. Here we have another case where the Bible has presented us with something that lasts FOREVER, but only UNTIL a certain condition is met. There is no real contradiction in these passages. The Greek phrase rendered 'for ever and ever' is 'εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων' and means 'to the ages of the ages'. This phrase does NOT mean 'for ever and ever', nor does it mean countless eternal ages. Ages deal with time, not eternity. Ages OF the ages is in the Greek genitive case, thus comparing things. These are the ages above all other ages. Just as Jesus is the 'King of kings' (a king above all other kings), these ages are the ages in which Christ will rule and subject all things to God. They may be very long ages, but they are not eternal as we know from 1 Corinthians 15:25. The Bible is clear that not even the duration of the reign of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lasts 'for ever and ever'. How sure are you then that this phrase can be used to express the eternal torment and misery of the unsaved. |
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| 1Cor 15:25,28 | For he must reign,
till he hath put all enemies
under his feet... And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the
Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may
be all in all. |
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| THEOLOGICAL ISSUES | |||||
| Ezek 37:1-14 | The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. | No | No | To my
evangelical and fundamentalist friends I would suggest that the passage to the
left presents you with a theological problem of enormous proportions. For
proponents of the doctrine of eternal torment in particular whose interpretation
of so many passages depends upon a strict literalism - a literalism they insist
upon - I do believe that this passage is fatal to much your theology. In Ezekiel chapter 37 we have described for us a resurrection. Is this resurrection figurative or literal? FOUR TIMES this chapter states that the graves of these Jewish people would be opened and they would live. How will you answer? If you say that the resurrection described in this passage is only figurative or symbolic of a national state of existence - for example, the recreation of the state of Israel in 1948 - then I can see no reason how we should be able to know whether or not ANY passage in the Bible is literal or figurative. How can one insist that a Biblical figure such as 'The Lake of Fire' is literal, and then reject a passage such as this as figurative? Saying that this passage is figurative only exposes the fact that your entire system of theology is completely arbitrary, and your willingness to 'explain away' a difficult passage - something you routinely accuse others of doing - is exposed. On the other hand, if this passage is literal, then surely not only the doctrine of eternal torment is proven false, but much of mainstream orthodox theology comes crashing down with it. If this passage is speaking of a literal resurrection (as we believe it to be) then where were these dead people BEFORE this resurrection? We are taught that the eternal fate of mankind is sealed at their death - they are either saved or lost. Evangelicals will tell us that when people in the Old Testament died they went to one of two 'compartments' in Sheol - either paradise (Abraham's Bosom), or a place of torment. In which state were these Jews before their resurrection? Were they saved? Surely not. They say 'Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: We are cut off for our parts.' Also God says that he must OPEN THEIR GRAVES and put His spirit into them so that they may KNOW HIM. Surely these people, prior to this resurrection, are not saved. So are these people unsaved prior to their resurrection? If so, then clearly they were not lost forever at the moment of their death as they are saved by God AFTER THEIR RESURRECTION. This shows why mainstream Christianity cannot accept this passage at face value - it is utterly fatal to so much that they hold to be true. If this passage is literally true then they are wrong about the death state, they are wrong that one's eternal fate is sealed at the moment of their death, and they are wrong about the doctrine of eternal torment. However, by making the passage entirely symbolical they show themselves to be wholly arbitrary in their interpretation of scripture and expose their willingness to explain away a difficult passage when it clashes with their theology. This passage presents us with a HOPE for the lost beyond the grave. Do you believe it? |
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| Jude 7 | Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. | No | No |
I suggest that the passages shown to the left have rarely been considered
together by most Christians. Here's how I learned to interpret these passages: I was taught that Jude 7 is a clear reference to 'hell'. The ancient inhabitants of Sodom are currently suffering the torments of hell, and they will be cast into the 'lake of fire' after the judgment to suffer for all eternity. I was told that Matthew 10:15 teaches that there are 'degrees of punishment in hell'. Although the inhabitants of Sodom will suffer horribly, those wicked cities which rejected Jesus will suffer even worse. I never once heard anyone teach on Ezekiel 16. The first time I encountered Ezekiel 16 - 'I will restore the fortunes of Sodom' - I was perplexed and I did what many Christians do - I immediately reached for a commentary. From the Bible Knowledge Commentary (Dallas Theological Seminary) I found this: "I will restore the fortunes (blessings) of Sodom … and of Samaria … and your fortunes along with them. If God would restore Jerusalem, could He do any less for her more righteous sisters? Ezekiel was speaking of the national restoration of these cities in the Millennium. (Evidently Sodom will be rebuilt at that time.)" This my friends, is nonsense, and once again an example of how difficult passages are dismissed by the waive of a theological wand. The commentary is correct in its assessment that the passage is stating that if God restores the Jewish nation then he couldn't do less for Sodom who's sin was lesser by comparison. But how in the world would that have any meaningful fulfillment if the only thing meant by this prophecy is that only the city of Sodom will be rebuilt in the millennium? We are supposed to believe that the presence of a rebuilt city named Sodom will induce converted Jews in the millennium to a sense of shame and self-loathing? In Ezekiel 37 considered above, God promises to restore the whole house of Israel and Judah by opening their graves and putting His spirit within them. In this passage God states that he will restore the fortunes of Sodom in their midst. Do you believe your Bible? Are you really willing to dismiss a passage such as this with an interpretation which reduces it to meaningless absurdity? Look at Jesus' teaching on this very subject (Matt 10:15, 11:24, Mark 6:1, Luke 10:12). Isn't it clear that Jesus is expressing the very same thought given in Ezekiel 16? Strangely, Christians never seem to connect these two passages. Yes, they believe that Jesus is speaking about the PEOPLE of Sodom, not a rebuilt city. It is the PEOPLE of Sodom that are to have a more tolerable judgment than those PEOPLE in the Jewish cities who rejected his message. But by turning Jesus' teaching into 'degrees of punishment in hell' they have missed the obvious cross-reference to Ezekiel 16. In Matthew 10:15 we are supposed to believe Jesus is talking about the PEOPLE of Sodom (he is), but in Ezekiel 16, we are supposed to believe it is only a rebuilt CITY in view? Nonsense. We have here a classic example of how the doctrines of man's inherent immortality and eternal torment have made the proper interpretation of these passages impossible. Matthew 10:15 IS NOT speaking of degrees of punishment in hell - There is no 'hell' in the passage. Jesus is talking about the 'day of judgment' - an age or ages following the resurrection. It is during this time that both the Jews, and the people of Sodom will be resurrected. In that time it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for those wicked Jews who rejected the light of Jesus' teaching. As we saw above in Isaiah 32:13, and Ezekiel 16, the Jews were to be cast off FOR EVER, UNTIL the resurrection and God pours His spirit upon them. Likewise, the people of Sodom have suffered the vengeance of an 'ETERNAL fire' (See section Ia Above) UNTIL God restores their fortunes. May God save us from careless handling of His word. See also A Scriptural Example of Eternal Fire |
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| Matt 10:15 | Verily I say unto you, It shall be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha
in the day of judgment, than for that city. See also Matt 11:24, Mark 6:1, Luke 10:12 |
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| Ezek 16:48-55 | As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your
sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your
daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and
her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid
the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I
removed them, when I saw it. Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have
committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear
righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. Bear your disgrace,
you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your
sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right
than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made
your sisters appear righteous. “I will restore their fortunes, both the
fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and
her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, that
you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done,
becoming a consolation to them. As for your sisters, Sodom and her
daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her
daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall
return to your former state. (Ezekiel 16:48–55) |
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| Romans 11:25-29 | For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. | No | No |
The verses shown to the left clearly teach the restoration of the WHOLE nation
of Israel. Notice the words of the Apostle Paul: “…All Israel shall be saved” Romans 11:26 And the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “These bones are the whole house of Israel” Ezekiel 37:11 On their face a fair reading of these text teaches the ultimate salvation of Israel at some point in the future, namely when “The redeemer shall come out of Zion and shall turn ungodliness away from Jacob.” Romans 11:26 If many of the Jewish people died in ignorance, rebellion, or unbelief, and yet they will be saved at some future time then one thing is clear — their deaths could not have been the end of their opportunity for salvation, and much of what we are taught is in error. Of course, traditional and orthodox belief does not accept this conclusion and attempts to circumvent this great truth by one of two methods. The first is known as “Replacement Theology”. This system of interpretation takes all of the promises made to natural Israel and applies their fulfillment spiritually to the New Testament Church. I do not believe that this is something that can be done without doing serious violence to the Biblical text. Romans 11 in particular shows how this view breaks down. Paul writes the entire chapter in order to answer the troubling question concerning Israel’s unbelief. The theme of the chapter clearly concerns the Jewish people. What would become of them since their hearts were hardened against the gospel? The climax comes in verses 25-32 where Paul speaks of their future restoration when Christ returns. It is impossible to spiritualize the references to Israel in this chapter and attempt to apply them to the Church. Nor is it possible that Paul in verses 25-32 is only speaking on the remnant of the Jewish people who have come to Christ in this age. That is the topic of verses 2-5. The question Paul is attempting to answer is the question of Israel’s general unbelief, and proceeds to show how it was the plan of God himself to temporarily blind the nation of Israel so that the Gospel would go to the gentiles. But this arrangement is not permanent. “All Israel shall be saved” when “the redeemed shall come out of Zion”. It is nearly impossible to miss the force of this argument. God clearly has a plan for the natural Jewish people, and it is an error to take all of these future promises and apply them to the New Testament Church. The second system of interpretation, Dispensationalism, also attempts to circumvent the force of these verses. While dispensationalism recognizes the error of trying to spiritualize all Old and New Testament promises to Israel, and while they recognize that natural Jews and the nation of Israel are promised a future restoration, they are also guilty of twisting these passages. How so? First, they are also guilty of spiritualizing passages such as Ezekiel 37. In that chapter God says four times that he will “open the graves” of the Jewish people and restore them by placing his spirit within them. Dispensationalists deny that this passage is referring to a literal resurrection and apply these scriptures to the recreation of the Jewish state in 1948. Thus, they believe that these verses refer only to a national restoration, not a literal resurrection. In passages such as Romans 11:25-29 — “All Israel shall be saved” — they believe that this refers only to Jewish people living at the time of Christ’s return. They believe that he will convert all of the unbelieving Jews living at that time. But this is absurd. What happens to a Jewish unbeliever who dies one minute before the return of Jesus? Are we supposed to believe, as evangelicals and dispensationalist do, that this person is lost, and will burn forever in hell? Notice that the verses to the left form a chain that most Christians never take time to consider together. Paul says that “The Redeemer shall come out of Zion and turn ungodliness away from Jacob.” This is the time in which the Jewish people will be saved. But notice that Paul here is quoting from Psalm 14:7: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.” Notice this phrase — “Restores the fortunes of his people”. We have seen this verse above: “I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. Ezekiel 16:53-54 Are these verses really only speaking of national restorations for those who happen to be alive at Christ’s return? Surely not. These passages are directly connected to the promises of restoration given to the Jewish nation in Ezekiel 37-39: “ I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” But as Ezekiel 37 makes clear, this is during the time when God OPENS THE GRAVES of the Jewish people and places His spirit within them. So, what do we have? 1) The Jewish People are promised a restoration in which God restores their fortunes. 2) This takes place when Jesus returns 3) He restores the fortunes of the Jewish people by opening their graves and placing His spirit in them. 4) Sodom will also be restored at this time. These are facts which are easily discerned from the text but denied by those who seek to teach that there is any hope for the lost beyond the grave. Any system of interpretation which seeks to deny these facts does so only by twisting the scriptures; something they routinely accuse others of doing. The Jewish people have been blinded during this age so that the Gospel could be preached to the Gentiles. The are however promised a future resurrection and restoration. Will you believe it, or deny it? |
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| Ezek 37:23-27 | Neither shall they defile themselves any
more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein
they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will
be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall
have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my
statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto
Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein,
even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my
servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of
peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place
them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for
evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. |
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| Psalm 14:7 | Oh, that salvation for Israel would come
out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob
rejoice, let Israel be glad. |
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| Ezek 16:53-54 | “I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. | ||||
| Ezek 39:25 | “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy
on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. |
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